RHSS Christine Tran GRADE 12: October 2012

The Abbotsford International Airport (YXX)

My experience included a visit to Coastal Pacific Aviation, Chinook Helicopters, and Conair. Whether it's sitting in the pilot's seat in a Cessna 172 or getting an up-close and personal tour of the Abbotsford Airport, it was definitely an experience to remember. At Coastal Pacific Aviation, I was able to experience the feeling of being in a Cessna 172 and witnessing the works of assisting in landing an aircraft by an air traffic controller up on the control tower. At Chinook Helicopters, I learned about how complex flying a helicopter truly is, and how different it is in comparision to a plane. At Conair, I had the opportunity to be inside a waterbomber as well as be one of the first few people to see a new upcoming design.

The Coastal Pacific Aviation building.

Wayne Cave here to tell us about the Cessna 172

The instrument panel of the Cessna 172

Myself standing in front of a Cessna 172.

Here we have the Customs and Immigrations facilities and accommodation for air carriers

Another view of Customs, an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country.

Restricted and secured room for apprehending people wanted by international arrest warrants, and impeding the entry of others deemed dangerous to the country.

View from the air traffic control tower.

View of the Cessna 172 from the control tower.

Conair Waterbombers

Inside of an old Conair Waterbomber.

The Conair Piper Aerostar 600A

The cowling of an aircraft.

A French-made helicopter of a Russian billionaire.

A Robinson R-44 Raven II Chinook Helicopter

The Aviation class of 2012/2013 with our Aviation and Physics instructor Mr. Ian Newton!

Wing Design Project

The purpose of this project was to learn the different aspects of the wing of an aircraft and be able to design a wing that demonstrates lift. Throughout this wing project, I learned how the camber, leading edge, and trailing edge all contribute to creating lift in the wing just by the way it is shaped. I also learned many new and interesting principles and ideas about lift. Some of which include Daniel Bernoulli’s Principle, the lift equation, and why air flow is important. During the construction of the wing section, my partner and I made three model wings. Each differently shaped and molded. What we learned through our design is that we never quite generated the lift we desired on each wing. After thinking about the concept for a while we came up with two problems we had with each wing. The first problem being that there was not enough camber, and inefficient camber resulted in a wing with a great deal of drag. To solve this problem we made a deeper camber into one of the wings, and the lift seemed to improve a little. The other problem was that we made our wing tails lower, which consequently caused more drag, and to fix that problem we cut some of the end part of the wing off. Overall, this wing design project was great for us to experience firsthand the sort of work aircraft engineers have, and we also had fun doing it.

Airflow is being demonstrated with thread attached to the wing!

Testing one of our wings for lift.

The final product of my wing design analysis and project

Bernoulli's Principle VS. Newton's Laws of Motion

Daniel Bernoulli Sir Isaac Newton

Daniel Bernoulli (February 8^th, 1700 – March 17^th, 1782) was a Swiss mathematician and a physicist. His most important work considered the basic properties of fluid flow, pressure, density and velocity, and gave the Bernoulli principle. Another important aspect of Daniel Bernoulli's work that proved important in the development of mathematical physics was his acceptance of many of Newton's theories. Bernoulli also worked in many areas of mathematics and physics and had a degree in medicine. At the age of 24 in 1724, he had published a mathematical work in which he investigated a problem begun by Newton concerning the flow of water from a container and several other problems involving differential equations. In 1738, his work Hydrodynamica was published. In this work, he applied the conservation of energy to fluid mechanics problems. Sir Isaac Newton worked in many areas of mathematics and physics. While he was only 23 years old, he had developed the theories of gravitation in 1666. Then in 1686, he came up with his three laws of motion.

Daniel Bernoulli discovered that the total energy in any system remains constant, therefore if one element of an energy system is increased, another decreases in order to counter balance it. Bernoulli’s Principal states that lift is generated by a pressure difference across the wing. Bernoulli’s principle regarding hydrodynamics states that an increase in the velocity of a stream of fluid results in a decrease in pressure. As the speed of the plane increases, air flows faster over the curved top of the wing than underneath. The upward pressure exerted by the air under the wing is thus greater than the pressure exerted downward above the wing, resulting in a net upward force, or lift. This principle is also applied to water flow within a venturi tube. Being incompressible, the water must speed up to pass through the constricted space of the venturi tube. The moving water is capable of energy in the form of both pressure and of speed. Pressure is sacrificed in order to accelerate the speed of the flow. Generally, gases are assumed to be incompressible as speed aerodynamics are concerned, when they are moving at low speeds under approximately 220 miles per hour. However, when an aircraft is traveling faster than 220 miles per hour, assumptions regarding the air through which they flew that were true at slower speeds are no longer valid. At high speeds, the energy of the quickly moving aircraft goes into compressing the fluid (the air) and consequently changing its density. Those who disagree to modeling the lift process with the Bernoulli equation point to the fact that the flow is not incompressible, but only assumed, and therefore the density changes in the air should be taken into account. The ideal gas law, which is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas, should be obeyed and density changes will inevitably result. This does not render the Bernoulli equation invalid, but just makes it more difficult to apply.

Through further research, Sir Isaac Newton believes that lift is the reaction force on a body caused by deflecting a flow of gas. Newton’s Third Law states that for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. Therefore, the more air deflected downward, the more lift is created. Furthermore, his first law states that every object remains at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. The four major forces that act on an aircraft are; lift, weight, thrust, and drag. If we consider the motion of an aircraft at a constant altitude, we can neglect the lift and weight. A cruising aircraft flies at a constant airspeed and the thrust balances the drag of the aircraft. This is the first part stated in Newton's first law; there is no net force on the airplane and it travels at a constant velocity in a straight line. Therefore, both Bernoulli’s Principal and Newton’s laws, whether integrating the effects of either the pressure or the velocity, demonstrate the aerodynamic force on an object.

Bernoulli's Principle and the Carburetor

The is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. The goal of a carburetor is to mix just the right amount of gasoline with air so that the engine runs properly. If there is not enough fuel mixed with air, the engine will "run lean" and will either not run or it may potentially damage the engine. However, if there is too much fuel mixed with air, the engine will "run rich" and consequently not run, runs very smoky, runs poorly, or stalls.

The carburetor powers on Bernoulli's Principle in which states that the quicker air moves, the lower it's static pressure (air pressure in the aircraft's static pressure system), and in addition, the higher it's dynamic pressure (the stress within an aircraft subject to aerodynamic forces.) The throttle, a valve that directly regulates the amount of air entering the engine, does not directly control the flow of liquid fuel but rather it actuates the carburetor mechanisms which measures the flow of air being pulled in to the engine. The speed of this flow, and therefore it's pressure, is what determines the amount of fuel drawn into the airstream.

Carburetor icing is an icing condition in which may potentially affect any carburetor under atmostpheric conditions. Carburetor icing occurs when the air is humid, and the decrease in temperature within the venturi causes the water vapor to freeze. There will be a relevant amount of ice forming on the surfaces of the carburetor throat, consequently restricting it. At first this may perhaps increase the venturi effect, but eventually restricts airflow, and potentially cause a complete blockage of the carburetor. Icing may possibly cause jamming of the mechanical parts of the carburetor such as the throttle or a butterfly valve.

Although it poses as a critical hazard to all carburetors, carburetor icing is of particular concern in association with piston-powered aircrafts, especially small, single engine, and light aircrafts. The conditions in which are required for carburetor icing are visible moisture, an increase in humidity, and temperature above 0° degrees celsius to +20° degrees celsius. The icing occurs at such a high temperature of 20 ° because when the fuel is being converted into a vapor in the carburetor, the adiabatic cooling happens. Adiabatic cooling is the process of a fuel changing into vapor that requires the heat to be absorbed from the surrounding air.

The butterfly valve controls the flow of air passing through the carburetor. The possibility of carburetor icing increases significantly when throttle is operated in a partially open position, due to the venturi effect created by the butterfly valve partially open, causing air to further cool down. However, the chances of carburetor icing reduces at temperatures of 0 degrees celsius and below, provided that the air cannot hold water in the vapor form below it, allowing water to crystallize in the form of ice, in which gives the opportunity for it to pass through the carburetor easily.

The Lift Equation

In order for an aircraft to rise into the air, a force must be created that equals or exceeds the force of gravity. This force is called lift. In heavier-than-air craft, lift is created by the flow of air over an airfoil. The shape of an airfoil causes air to flow faster on top than on bottom. The fast flowing air decreases the surrounding air pressure. Because the air pressure is greater below the airfoil than above, a resulting lift force is created. To further understand how an airfoil creates lift, it is necessary to know the lift equation, but also the importance of it.

Wing airfoils do not have a predetermined shape, and they are each designed based on the functions each aircraft will perform. In helping with the design process, engineers will use the lift coefficient, “Cl”, to measure the amount of lift obtained from a particular airfoil shape. In designing an aircraft wing, it is usually advantageous to get the lift coefficient as high as possible. Lift is proportional to dynamic pressure and wing area. The lift equation is written as:

The lift equation states that lift L is equal to the lift coefficient “Cl” multiplied by the density “r” multiplied by half of the velocity “V squared” multiplied by the wing area “S”.
For given air conditions, shape, and inclination of the object, we have to determine a value for “Cl” to determine the lift.

In the equation given above, the density is designated by the letter "r." The density is given by the Greek symbol "rho" (Greek for "r"). The combination of terms "density times the square of the velocity divided by two" is called the dynamic pressure and appears in Bernoulli's pressure equation. That is a summary of the lift equation, which is used to determine the lift of any aircraft. Engineers will use this equation to aid in the particular wing design they are creating, and helps them determine the correct lift coefficient

Importance of Airflow

Since the shape of most airfoils is asymmetrical - its surface area is greater on the top than on the bottom. As the air flows over the airfoil, it is displaced more by the top surface than the bottom. According to the continuity law, this displacement, or loss of flow area, must lead to an increase in velocity. The flow velocity is increased some by the bottom airfoil surface, but considerably less than the flow on top. One thing we notice about the airflow pattern is the air just ahead of the wing is moving, not just left to right, but also upward; this is called upwash. Similarly, the air just at the back of the wing is moving, not just left to right, but also downward; this is called downwash. Pilots and engineers need to understand how the air flows over their aircraft and how it affects them. To be safe, engineers create aircraft with as little disturbance in the air flow as possible. Pilots need to learn how to manage in regular air flow as well as irregular. The angle of attack is what is most commonly changed to alter the air flow of an aircraft. It is one of the factors that the engineers are able to change.

Boeing Tour Experience

The Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Company offer the only opportunity to tour a commercial jet assembly plant in Seattle. Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners, defense, space, and security systems. I was impressed that its products and services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, defense systems, launch systems, and also advanced technological solutions. I was fascinated by the fact that it’s the world's largest building by volume (472,000,000 cubic feet or 13,385,378 cubic meters). Furthermore, the orchestration of these aircrafts amazed me beyond belief. They manufacture the aircrafts in what is called the assembly line process. Assembly lines are designed for sequential organization of workers, tools, as well as machines, and parts. This process is beneficial in a way that it is efficient, uses relatively less skilled labor, produces consistent results, and there is a much lower cost in mass production allowing the creation of several at a time. Mass production involves building copies of a product in a quick and efficient manner, using assembly line techniques to send partially complete products to workers who each work on an individual step, rather than having a worker work on a whole product from start to finish. The quality aspect comes largely from interchangeable parts, not from assembly line production. Interchangeable parts are essential for assembly lines, and have a series of advantages themselves, such as reparability of units in the field. On the early cars, a mechanic had to carefully measure the old parts and manufacture new parts to fit; the Ford model T used interchangeable parts, and you could just get a new piston and pop it in. However, there are a few disadvantages to the assembly line as well. If something went wrong in one of the steps and one of the workers didn’t notice it until it was too late, then the whole aircraft would have to be taken apart and be rebuilt from the beginning again. This method of planning is definitely not suited for custom parts in orders or frequent design changes. But given that it is very crucial for every aircraft to mimic one another in order to provide consistency, the assembly line is a brilliant method.

I was astonished by the complexity of the process of just building a single aircraft. Even the Boeing 747 Dreamlifter, a wide-body cargo aircraft, is used exclusively for transporting 787 Dreamliner aircraft parts to Boeing’s assembly plants from suppliers internationally. It carries over 6 million parts from 1000 different manufacturers just to build a single 787 Dreamliner. The 787 Dreamliner is the world’s first major airliner to use composite materials for the majority of its construction. This just proves how complex the process is just to build an aircraft such as this one, and how attention to detail is a fundamental step in order to produce a high quality aircraft.

This academic field trip to Seattle’s Boeing Field was an experience that I will seldom forget. It brought me to realize how much more there is to the creation of a plane than just placing parts together. The orchestration in itself and the method of planning goes beyond just the assembly of the plane. The exploration of this factory brought me to realize that I may have an interest and desire to work as an aircraft manufacturer as well as reinforced the drive to attain a career in Aviation. Whether it involves working for the Boeing Company, becoming a commercial pilot, or even perhaps an air traffic controller – I am intrigued by the different aspects of Aviation that I have come to understand aside from just becoming a pilot.

Entering the gallery of flight

Exclusively large windows of the 787 Dreamliners

The size of the propellor inside of the 787 Dreamliner

A visual representation of the multiple stages of compression within the aircraft.

A close up view of the multiple stages of compression.

The composite structure of the 787 Dreamliner.

Final Project: Semi-Monocoque Model Plane Construction

A few weeks ago, we were assigned to construct a model plane as one of the requirements to complete our course. At first, we were concerned given that it was our very first time crafting the structure of a plane, and also because each piece that makes up the model was so fragile, it can easily break with just a small amount pressure. We attempted to make the plane on the basement floor of Anneliese's home with what scarce tools we found; following the instructions step-by-step like our lives had depended on it. The plane we built was a semi-monocoque plane that had a rather simple structure but complex construction process. For the whole construction of the plane we followed the instructions meticulously to ensure that there would be no mistakes during this long process, placing the pieces in the correct spots and patiently waiting for glue to dry (the most difficult part for us, in our opinion. The wings were the most challenging because they needed to be equally made or one side would drag more than another. We found this when we attached the covering over the left wing, consequently giving a rough shape and in addition affected the flight of the plane in the end. The dihedral and angle of attack on the wings was predetermined in the instructions, however we noticed when we saw the other classmate’s wings that everyone’s dihedral on their wings was varied; some being lower, while others being much higher. Once the plane was finished, the both of us took it to the barn so that it would be spacious for a test flight. At first our plane turned drastically to the right, and we figured that was partially due to the propwash and as well as the roughness of the right wing. To fix this problem, we turned the tail a little to the left to allow the plane to even out. That seemed to work, but even so, it still moved slightly to the right. Next, we focused on power. Initially, we added more elastic to our “motor” in hopes that this would create more power, and therefore more thrust and greater amount of time in the end. We later discovered that we could produce more power with a shorter length because the elastic was less likely to get knotted and caught up in the plane which prevented the plane to glide smoothly. We realized that baby shampoo added to the elastic allowed less friction and better movement. Furthermore, an adjustment we had to constantly improve was the placement of the wings. If the wings were too far forward the plane would nose-dive due to the amount of weight at the front, with a forward CG (centre of gravity), our tail was producing a downwards force to balance the nose, and if the wings were too far moved rearwards that the centre of gravity fell behind our centre of life the tail then needed to generate "upwards" lift to keep the nose from pitching up, and that caused in the nose of the plane rising more and becoming slower as it needed to work harder.
After these adjustments were made and the final gluing of attachments and tweaks were done, we were ready for flight day! On the day of flight, however, one of our tail parts broke so we had to glue it together, and we noticed that it caused some problems during flight. It prevented our plane from flying in a straight line like it initially did during our practices. Our plane was able to lift off on its own and stay in the air for approximately 16 seconds gliding for 8.5 meters with a smooth landing. For the second round, we manually threw our plane and it stayed in the air for 14 seconds, spiraling downwards like a leaf. Another student in our class had a lot of vertical lift during his flight, and placing Vaseline on the elastic band of the plane could have been a contributing factor to its success provided that the elastic band acts as a motor and Vaseline would help allow the elastic band to heighten its power and in turn improve its thrust. In the end, we were more than grateful that our plane was able to lift off and fly on its own, and we were very proud of our accomplishment at building our first model plane ever! This process taught us lots of logical thinking and how to have patience as we built our project. It not only allowed us to not only work independently with parts of the process but also work as a team to create a structure that was not as simple as we thought it would be. This project encouraged us to analyze and detect what was wrong with the plane as well as finding different solutions while making adjustments little by little in order to fix the problem. Overall, the construction of this semi-monocoque plane was beyond just a project for a course, but a fantastic learning experience for the both of us

FINAL COURSE OVERVIEW REFLECTION

This class was nothing short from phenomenal. Coming into this course, I knew very little about planes and how they are created other than that they were large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Whether it was learning about how the plane functions to how it is structured from a manufacturers point of view, this course was nothing but insightful. The Aviation program consisted of numerous activities such as field trips to Boeing Fields, Coastal Pacific, Conair, Chinook Helicopters, and even our very own Abbotsford Airport. At Boeing Fields in Seattle, I learned that constructing a 747 Dreamlifter and a 787 Dreamliner is a lot more complex than I had originally thought. The orchestration of the aircrafts used is called the assembly line process. Assembly lines are designed for sequential organization of workers, tools, as well as machines, and parts. This process is beneficial in a way that it is efficient, uses relatively less skilled labour, produces consistent results, and there is a much lower cost in mass production allowing the creation of several at a time. Mass production involves building copies of a product in a quick and efficient manner, using assembly line techniques to send partially complete products to workers who each work on an individual step, rather than having a single worker work on a whole product from start to finish. At Coastal Pacific, we experienced sitting in the pilot’s seat of a Cessna 172, a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing fixed-wing aircraft in which have been built more than any other aircraft. Then, we got front row seats to the view from the control tower while witnessing the air traffic controller in action assisting the landings and take-offs of aircrafts. At Conair, I had the opportunity to be inside a water bomber as well as be one of the first few people to see a new and improved upcoming design. Afterwards, at Chinook Helicopters I met one of the first women in the world to obtain a helicopters license. Meeting her was not only honourable, but inspirational in a sense that not only males can be pilots but females like myself have the same credentials and are just as capable of becoming pilots.

Furthermore, everyone got to know each other as a whole and work on numerous projects together in this class making it a collaborative effort and allowing us to learn how to work as a team. This skill is helpful in any aspect of Aviation; flying alongside a co-pilot or building the exclusive 787 Dreamliner with a team of people at Boeing Fields. Projects that we engaged in include designing a wing and also building a semi-monocoque plane. The purpose of the wing design project was to learn the different types and parts to the wings of an aircraft and be able to design a wing that demonstrates lift. Throughout this wing project, I learned how the camber, leading edge, and trailing edge all contribute to creating lift in the wing just by the way it is shaped. I gained knowledge of many new and interesting principles and ideas about lift. Some of which include Daniel Bernoulli’s Principle, the lift equation, and why air flow is important. During the construction of the wing section, my partner and I made three model wings. Each differently shaped and moulded. What we learned through our design is that we never quite generated the lift we desired on each wing. After thinking about the concept for a while we came up with two problems we had with each wing. The first problem being that there was not enough camber, and inefficient camber resulted in a wing with a great deal of drag. To solve this problem we made a deeper camber into one of the wings, and the lift seemed to improve a little. The other problem was that we made our wing tails lower, which consequently caused more drag, and to fix that problem we cut some of the end part of the wing off and only then did our wings generate further lift. Our final project was to construct a semi-monocoque plane that will not only fly for duration of time but also lift off on its own without any sort of fuelled engines attached. This project challenged us to use our critical thinking skills and continuously make adjustments in order to improve the take-off and produce the smoothest flight possible. Several adjustments had to be made such as the roughness and placement of our wings because if the wings were too far forward the plane would nose-dive due to the amount of weight at the front, with a forward CG (centre of gravity), our tail was producing a downwards force to balance the nose, but if the wings were too far moved rearwards that the centre of gravity fell behind our centre of life the tail then needed to generate "upwards" lift to keep the nose from pitching up, and that caused in the nose of the plane rising more and becoming slower as it needed to work harder. Then there was the length of our elastic that acted as “the motor” when we realized that the shorter the elastic the less likely it is to get tangled during take-off, and also the addition of baby oil in which decreased the friction to allow better movement. Overall both projects gave us an opportunity to experience firsthand the sort of work aircraft engineers have, while encouraging us to problem solve and improve results of both projects through trial and error. Before taking this course, never would I have imagined myself capable of producing such structures that are scale models of what engineers themselves manufacture.

Another aspect to the course was learning how to read TAFs and METARs which are the most popular formats in the world for the transmission of weather data. They are weather reports predominantly used by pilots in fulfillment of a part of a pre-flight weather briefing, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting. Strangely, I found decoding METARs and TAFs the most enjoyable part because it felt like I was learning another language, the language that pilots use. We also learned how to use various different tools such as an E6B to determine fuel required, magnetic headings, estimated time it would take to arrive to a destination, and airspeed. Furthermore, I found how useful a pilot’s operating handbook is to determine weight and balance calculations and just basic instructions before flight. All of these tools had ultimately prepared us for the single task of being able to create a flight plan for our final examination. Our flight plan had to be composed of take-off and landing distances, take-off briefing, weight and balance calculations, a navigation log, and a progress log. This really tested our knowledge and tied everything that we had learned in the course together.

For our final exam, using our flight plan we had to fly from Abbotsford Airport (CYXX) to Nanaimo (CYCD) in a Cessna 172 simulator. Going into the exam, I was nervous and fearful of not preparing myself enough. However, the course itself had prepared me for this exam without even me realizing it. The exam was not based on “book-knowledge” although it may be helpful to some extent, but it encouraged you to use your natural ability to fly and common sense to put it simply. So as much as I studied, I wouldn’t have succeeded during my exam if I didn’t understand the general concepts learned in class that no book could ever teach me the same way. The most challenging part of the flight was how sensitive the simulators controls were to every movement you made. Overall, flying was nowhere near as challenging to landing due to the lack of visibility of the runway from afar and being able to angle yourself in preparation to land square onto the runway. Timing was everything, the timing to decrease your speed as well as lower your altitude before approaching the runway.

What I loved most about this course however is that the instructor was what made this course enjoyable. It wasn’t about the percentage we received in class, but the learning experience as a whole. He had innovative teaching tactics as he ensured that our success was not based on our grades, but rather gave us an opportunity to grow and learn far beyond the curriculum and attain knowledge that was not taught by him, but taught by ourselves through experience. The people I met through this Aviation course, as well as the places I would have not been able to go to without this course is not indescribable in words. These memories will be what I will cherish forever, and the skills that I have developed with everything I’ve learned are nothing that I could have achieved on my own. This course has opened numerous paths and provided great insight for me as a person keen to knowledge. The exploration of all the various perspectives brought me to realize that I may have an interest and desire to work as an aircraft manufacturer as well as reinforced the drive to attain a career in Aviation. I have been exposed a number of career paths in Aviation that include but aren’t limited to; Aviation Law, Commercial Pilot, Sports Pilot, Maintenance, Engineering, Airport Management, Manufacture and Design, Flight Instruction, and Air Traffic Control. Whether it involves working for the Boeing Company, becoming a Commercial Pilot, or even perhaps an Air Traffic Controller – I am intrigued by the different aspects of Aviation that I have come to understand aside from just becoming a pilot.

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