At Miami Springs Senior High Aerospace Academy, they recognize the paramount importance of comprehending aerodynamics for future pilots and aeronautical engineers. To engage their students in this intricate subject matter, they’ve devised an enjoyable and instructive approach: crafting paper airplanes.
(1/3) Learning aerodynamics is foundational for any pilot or aeronautical engineer. Thus, we taught our students this in a familiar but fun way: designing and building paper airplanes!
We showed our students some of the different wing types and how they are used in the real pic.twitter.com/vRVHHRBO8f
— Miami Springs Senior High Aerospace Academy (@msshaerospace) September 25, 2023
Through this hands-on activity, they introduced their students to various wing types and their practical applications in the real world. For instance, they learned how the high wing design of the Cessna 172 enhances stability, making it an ideal choice for training purposes. The Boeing 747’s swept wings are engineered for transonic speeds, while the Concorde’s delta wing is tailor-made for supersonic flight.
Gliders, characterized by their high aspect ratio wings, excel at covering long distances and skillfully exploiting thermals for altitude gains. As their students fine-tuned their designs through iterations, they observed firsthand how minor adjustments could dramatically improve their paper airplanes’ flight performance. This approach not only made the principles of aerodynamics tangible but also added an element of excitement to the learning process.
