Our Projects

 Airplane

Our Airplane

     Our assignment was to build a model airplane that could fly around a power pole.  We started by building model airplanes out of paper and studying the principles of lift, center of gravity, and center of pressure.  We then sketched a design for the plane and began building it out of balsa wood.  After our first test we slightly modified the wings to provide more lift.  We also added extra weight to the back to counteract the weight of the motor.  After those modifications, our plane worked and was able to fly around the power pole with its own lift.

 Rocket

     Our rocket assignment was to build a rocket that we could launch.  We made our rocket out of paper and balsa wood.  We used a NASA rocket simulator to test our rocket before we began building.  We also used the simulator to maximize the height it would go.  After building our rocket we found the center of gravity and the center of pressure.  After finding the COG and COP we decided to add more weight to the nose by gluing pennies and we changed the design of our fins.  We then test launched the rocket and it was successful.  We made some slight changes to the rocket and then launched it again for the final test.