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June 30, 2005 Today, Bob Gotwals led the class in an exploration of aerodynamics. Using a rope, he demonstrated lift and drag by lifting and dragging the rope. Then, he showed them a wind tunnel. A wind tunnel is a device used to test aerodynamics in an airfoil (wing). Each student cut out a wing from a piece of paper and folded it into an airfoil. Next, each student tested his or her airfoil in the wind tunnel. Afterwards, Bob showed them replicas of the Wright brothers' original airfoils. After snack, Bob showed the class FoilSim, an airfoil simulator that allows student to modify an airfoil and the environment. He challenged them to replicate the Wright brothers' airfoil and the conditions of their first flight. Then each student presented his or her work to the class. After everyone had finished, Bob put his flight simulator on the projector. He showed them the original Wright brothers' plane, and he toured them through the plane, showing them everything they had modeled. Next, he showed them a modern plane, and showed them all the improvements that had been made. He took off from RDU airport, and flew to Chapel Hill, and then he flew from College Park Airport in Maryland to Washington D.C. |
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