Day 1: Feb 21, 2023
Main wings
Body of airplane
For the first half of the class, we manually transcribed the tutorial video we chose and gathered all the materials. The transcribing was difficult as the channel was Thai so we needed to look at and copy the subtitles. We needed help from Ms. Amanda to find the appropriate wood we needed which was balsa wood. She took us to the school’s storage room and we were able to find just the right amount of balsa wood that was 5mm thick. We discovered the school did not have any polyfoam available and so we bought the polyfoam and plastic sheet required for the propeller on TaoBao.
During the second half, we decided to start constructing our plane. we divided the work between ourselves. Jenny worked on crafting the wings, while I concentrated on shaping the body. However, I faced some challenges while cutting the balsa wood, so I switched to using a hobby knife for better precision. Despite this setback, we were able to complete the main wing and most of the body.
Day 2: Feb 23, 2023
Finished Propeller
Shepherd’s hook
During this class, Mr. Michie fell ill and was absent which led to us not having the most productive class. Fortunately, Jenny and I had a proper plan before class and knew what we were going to do.
I tried to create the hook that connected the propeller to the rubber band but experienced some difficulty. Mr. Walton helped us in finding the appropriate pliers and softer wires. He provided some feedback on our design, noting that the original video design had the tip slanted toward the tail, which interfered with the hook. He also advised us to use a shepherd’s hook because it is very simple and sturdy(you can see in the example above). We took his advice and modified the design of the hook and the slanted part, resulting in and improved propeller.
Jenny used the plastic we had purchased to create the propeller. She created a prototype out of masking tape, and traced it onto the curved plastic at a 16º angle from the vertical cut which successfully created the wings of the propeller.
I drilled a 5mm diameter skewer with the smallest drill bit and created the connector tube using an empty plastic q-tip stick. I inserted the wire through the q-tip stick, heated the tip with a lighter to soften it, and then flattened the tip into a washer by pressing it against a cool metal table. Our substitute teacher assisted us with the lighter as we were both wary of fire. We attached the contraption to the main body, securing it with thread. After that, we inserted the wire through the q-tip tube and affixed the propeller onto the wire tip, gluing it with super glue.
Day 3: Feb 27, 2023
Final plane design
Jenny superglued her hand to the propeller
This class’s goal was to assemble and fly our plane. We attached all the missing parts to the plane and went outside to see if our hard work had paid off. We were regrettably not able to get the first test flight on video as there was some miscommunication between me and Jenny on when to press record. Unfortunately, I did not consider the direction of the wind and threw our plane against the wind. This resulted in our plane being ripped out of the air and nose-dived to the ground and broke. We thought that we could just super glue the broken pieces back on, however, Jenny ended up super gluing the propeller to her hand. Only after soaking in warm soapy water was she able to remove her hand from the propeller. Because of this, we decided to remake our plane.
We reflected on what went wrong and concluded that:
- We should have launched it indoors as it was too windy
- the tension of the 6 rubber band braid was too much and prevented the propeller from functioning successfully
- Our trajectory was incorrect as we did not throw it parallel to the ground
Day 4: March 1, 2023
Due to us having already made a rubber-powered plane, we were able to successfully finish our second model in one class. We added some adjustments to the original model and used 3 rubber bands instead of 6.
We took our plane outside again to test as it was not as windy as the previous test run. This time Jenny threw the plane and I recorded. Unfortunately, again, our plane did not work and broke against its impact on the ground.
By observing the video, we were able to deduce that our trajectory was off again, as Jenny threw it up instead of forward and that our next test run should be done indoors.
Keeping this in mind, we decided to remake our plane again as fast as possible.
Day 5: March 3, 2023
Close-up on rubber band motor
Final model of our plane
Broken airplane
This is our last day to make our airplane fly and we had 2 failures so far. We built our plane at record speed as we already have a lot of experience. We wasted no time and made sure to be very precise and accurate.
This time, we decided to launch our plane indoors so the wind will not affect it. Despite this and that our trajectory was perfect, the plane was not able to get enough lift and crashed, again, to the ground. It pathetically broke into 4 parts and by the time we got back to the design room, the class was over and it was time to pack up.
As you can see in my model, the wing basically slices the air into 2 parts. The air pressure is reduced on the top and increases at the bottom of the wing which creates lift. Due to this test being indoors, I predict that the cause of this crash was that there was not enough air current to keep our plane aloft.
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite our 3 plane models not being successful and crashing to the ground, it was a valuable learning experience. Through the process, we gained knowledge in areas such as aerodynamics, teamwork, and problem-solving. We learned that engineering projects require careful planning, precise measurements, and attention to detail. We also realized that sometimes things don’t go as planned, and failure can be a valuable opportunity for growth and improvement. Although we didn’t achieve our ultimate goal, we are proud of the effort we put into the project and the skills we developed along the way. As we move forward, we will take the lessons we learned from this project and apply them to future engineering endeavours.
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