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Coin
and Feather
Learning
Objective: To understand the principle behind Galileo’s Law
of Falling Bodies (Gravity).
Method: The device consists
of two clear, hollow acrylic tubes mounted on a vertical turntable.
Each tube contains a coin and light paper discs or feathers.
One tube contains ambient air; the other is a vacuum (the tube
has no air.) When rotated 180°, the coin hits bottom before
the feather in the air-filled tube; in the evacuated tube, the
coin and feather hit bottom simultaneously.
 Falling
Bodies Device
Learning Objective:
To understand the principle behind Galileo’s Law of Falling
Bodies (Gravity).
Method: The device consists
of a pair of vertical acrylic tubes with a plunger-operated
release mechanism at the top which serves to release a pair
of tennis balls simultaneously into the tubes. One ball has
been filled with BBs, making it noticeably heavier than the
other. When placed into their recesses at the top of the tubes
and released, both balls reach the bottom of the tubes simultaneously.
Galileo’s Pendulums
Learning Objective:
To understand the principle behind Galileo’s Law of Falling
Bodies (Gravity).
Method: The device consists
of a pair of pendulums: one having a bob of cork; the other
a bob of lead.When pulled back and released simultaneously,
the operator will observe that the initial period (or swing)
of both bobs is equal, despite their obvious difference in mass.
 Space
Scale
Learning Objective:
To understand the relationship between weight and mass. (Gravity)
Method:
The device consists of a scale and console with touchpads for
ten locations in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Earth’s moon. When
standing on the scale, the operator can select any of these
locations and observe how his or her weight changes according
to the gravitational pull created by the different masses of
the planets.
Frictionless Air Track
Learning
Objective: To understand the principles contained in Newton’s
Laws of Motion: Inertia, Acceleration and Action-Reaction.
Method: The device consists
of a 1.5 meter long extruded aluminum beam connected to an air
source. Air is blown through small holes at regular intervals
the length and width of the beam, creating an air cushion along
its surface. Two aluminum "cars" float freely on the
air cushion when activated, allowing the operator to accelerate
them in a variety of ways in a virtually frictionless environment.
One car is equipped with a balloon-nozzle attachment which allows
it to be self-propelled. Removable weights can be fitted to
the cars to alter their masses for class group experiments.
 Measuring
Air Pressure Device
Learning
Objective: To understand the relationship between air pressure
and altitude in Earth’s atmosphere.
Method: The device consists
of a large acrylic cylinder mounted on a cabinet with a rubber
diaphragm in its base. A hand-operated wheel connected to a
cam pushes up or pulls down on the diaphragm, increasing or
decreasing pressure within the cylinder. A calibrated manometer
tube provides a visual display of the atmospheric pressures
at key geographic elevations on Earth.
Pressure Versus Altitude
Device
Learning Objective: To understand
the relationship between air pressure and altitude in Earth’s
atmosphere.
Method: The device consists
of a series of weighted bars, each representing the weight of
a 1" square column of atmosphere at a given altitude. Operators
can compare the atmospheric weights or pressures between sea
level and intervals up to 50,000 feet above sea level (MSL).
 Magdeburg
Hemispheres
Learning
Objective: To understand that air is matter which has mass and
occupies volume (atmospheric pressure.)
Method: The device mimics
an experiment conducted by Otto von Guericke in Magdeburg, Germany
in the 17th century. Two machined aluminum hemispheres
are mounted to the top of a cabinet, one fixed and the other
mounted on a vertical sliding track which allows it to be slid
up and down to form a complete sphere. With the stopcock on
the upper hemisphere closed and the two hemispheres placed together,
a button-actuated vacuum pump removes the air from within the
sphere and prevents pulling the two hemispheres apart.
Descartes Divers
Learning
Objectives: To understand Archimedes’ principle of displacement
(buoyancy) and gas volume vs. pressure (Boyles Law).
Method: The device consists
of a water-filled cylinder topped by a lever-operated diaphragm.
Two glass Cartesian "divers" or air-filled buoys are
suspended in the cylinder. Operation of the lever either increases
or decreases pressure on the water column, directly compressing
or expanding the volume of air within each diver and causing
it to ascend or descend.
 Helium
Balloons
Learning
Objective: To understand the principle of displacement (buoyancy).
Method: The device consists
of a tethered, helium-filled weather balloon beneath which is
suspended a small basket. The operator can experiment with different
payloads to achieve positive, neutral or negative buoyancy.
Weight of Gases Device
Learning
Objective: To understand the variations in density and weight
of the volume of given gases that are components of atmospheric
air.
Method: The device consists
of a series of weighted bars each representing the weight of
100 cubic feet of a given gas: Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen,
Argon, Hydrogen and Helium.
 Bernoulli
Blower
Learning
Objective: To observe an application of Bernoulli’s Principle.
Method: The device consists
of a cabinet-enclosed blower and a swiveling air exhaust plenum
and rubber ball. When actuated, exhaust air holds the ball in
suspension 2-3 feet above the plenum. Operator can rotate plenum
to 45° from the vertical and observe that ball remains
suspended within the air column.
Bernoulli Demonstrator
Learning
Objective: To understand Bernoulli’s Principle of fluid dynamics
and its application to aerodynamics.
Method: The device is
a wind tunnel equipped with a clear test section and a bank
of fluid-filled manometer tubes. The test section contains yellow-colored
shapes which form a venturi nozzle and a fixed airfoil. The
operator can select one of three airspeeds and observe how the
air pressure changes at different points within the venturi
and along the airfoil’s surface.
 Drag
Demonstrator
Learning
Objective: To understand the relationship between an object’s
shape and the amount of resistance to air flow (drag) it causes.
Method: The device is
a wind tunnel equipped with three different shapes: cylinder,
sphere and teardrop which can individually or collectively be
exposed to the air stream through the wind tunnel. Each shape
is instrumented to generate a digital proportional signal for
the amount of drag induced in it by the force of the air against
it.
Angle of Attack (AOA)
Wind Tunnel
Learning
Objective: To understand the relationship between angle of attack,
lift, drag and stall.
Method: The device consists
of a wind tunnel equipped with a clear test section containing
a yellow-colored airfoil. The airfoil is mounted on a transverse
bearing which allows it to be adjusted in pitch relative to
the air flow. Operator can vary airspeed and angle of attack
to observe resulting lift, drag and onset of stall. LED readouts
indicate airspeed, lift and drag; red film streamers attached
to the airfoil flutter to indicate stall.
 High-Lift
Device Wind Tunnel
Learning
Objective: To understand how high-lift devices affect lift,
drag and stall speeds.
Method: The device consists
of a wind tunnel equipped with clear test section containing
a yellow-colored airfoil with trailing edge flap and leading
edge slat. The operator can adjust airspeed and angle of attack,
and extend or retract the flap to observe resulting lift, drag
and onset of stall. LED readouts are provided for airspeed,
lift and drag;. red film streamers attached to the airfoil flutter
to indicate stall.
Aircraft Control Stick
Learning
Objective: To illustrate how the movement of an aircraft control
stick affects the movement of an aircraft aileron.
Method: The device consists
of a standard aircraft control stick rigged to operate the left
wing aileron of a wing structure mounted overhead.
 Captive
Mentor Wind Tunnel
Learning
Objective: To illustrate how the movement of aircraft control
surfaces (elevator, aileron and rudder) affects the control
and stability of an aircraft in the axes of pitch, roll and
yaw.
Method: The device consists
of a large wind tunnel containing a 1/16 scale T-34C "Turbomentor"
remote-controlled model. Operator sits at a control console
equipped with stick, throttle and rudder pedals and flies model
in the wind tunnel. Limited control authority and area restrict
movement to approximately 3 feet up and down and 3 feet left
and right.
Interactive Flight Simulator
Learning
Objectives: To understand how control movements affect aircraft
performance: airspeed, altitude, heading, rate of descent and
rate of climb. To understand the basic variables essential to
piloting an aircraft: attitude, airspeed and power. To appreciate
the level of situational awareness and eye-to-hand coordination
required to pilot an aircraft.
Method: The flight simulator
is a highly interactive, highly realistic depiction of the flight
environment. The hardware is configured to resemble a hybrid
F-18/F-16 jet aircraft cockpit with a full set of controls and
basic instruments. Out-the-window view from the cockpit is a
wide-angle projection 10 feet wide by 8 feet high. Software
may be configured to provide a concise, "canned" flight
program which takes operator through a specific, limited profile
(e.g. final approach to carrier landing), or it can be configured
to provide an open flight program of unlimited duration and
mission profiles.
 Wright
Cyclone R-1820 Radial Engine
Learning
Objective: To illustrate the mechanical operation of the piston,
crankshaft and supercharger of the Cyclone engine.
Method: An operating
cutaway of the Cyclone engine shows the mechanical movements
of one of the nine pistons and its connecting rod to the engine
crankshaft and reduction gearing to the propeller driveshaft.
The centrifugal impeller for the supercharger is also displayed.
Westinghouse J-34 Turbojet
Engine
Learning
Objective: To illustrate the mechanical operation of the compressor
and power turbine sections of a turbojet engine.
Method: An operating
cutaway of the J-34 engine shows the mechanical rotation of
the driveshaft and the compressor and power turbine sections
it connects.
 Fiberoptic
Display of the J-34
Learning
Objective: To understand how a gas turbine engine operates:
the four stages of power production and how the engine converts
fuel and air into thrust.
Method: The fiberoptically
lit graphic of the J-34 cutaway is keyed to buttons on a visitor-operated
console which correspond to different sections of the engine
and steps in the power-production cycle.
Prop Versus Rocket Display
Learning
Objective: To understand the advantages and limitations of propeller
versus rocket propulsion as a function of altitude.
Method: The device consists
of a pair of spindle-mounted rotating metal arms enclosed inside
a large plexiglas dome. Mounted on the end of the top arm is
a 1:200 scale model of the Space Shuttle; the other arm mounts
a 1:48 scale model of a Navy F4F airplane. Low pressure air
is routed from a compressor in the device base to air jets in
both ends of the Shuttle’s arm; a 3 volt DC power source energizes
an electrical motor in the F4F, driving its propeller. The operator
energizes both aircraft and observes them "flying"
in circles. Actuating a vacuum pump/motor evacuates air from
the dome, simulating a climb in altitude until a virtually air-less
environment is reached. A timer-actuated cutoff stops the pump
and allows air back into the chamber.
 Propeller
Display
Learning
Objective: To observe how a propeller is designed like a "wing
with a twist."
Method: The device consists
of a series of cross-sections of a Hartzell propeller blade
from a T-34 aircraft. Visitors can handle and examine the sections
and compare their shapes with others taken from the same blade.
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Flight
to Excellence Program
