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Wings of Madness
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Classroom Activity
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Activity Summary
Students experiment with a paper airplane model to determine how
various wing angles affect flight characteristics.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
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recognize and use terminology associated with the design of
airplane wings.
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understand, follow, and repeat a sequence of instructions to
produce an airplane model.
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determine the cause-and-effect relationship between a wing's
shape and its flight characteristics.
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copy of the "Winging It" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
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copy of the "Airplane Template" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
- 4 sheets of 20# typing paper, 21.5 cm x 28 cm
- 2 gum erasers
- 1 ruler
Background
Albert Santos-Dumont was born in 1873 into a wealthy Brazilian
family in São Paolo. Inheriting the family fortune, he was
educated in France and lived in Paris, where he rubbed shoulders
with Parisian high society. He became interested in aeronautics at
an early age. He began his experiments with balloons, making his
first ascent in 1897. In 1898 he added a gasoline engine and
propeller to an elongated balloon of his own design, the first
application of this new form. He flew the craft successfully for the
first time in 1898.
Santos created a sensation in 1901 when he flew his sixth design
through a prescribed course, around the Eiffel Tower and back in 30
minutes, winning the Deutsch Prize of 100,000 francs, more than
$20,000 in today's currency. After this feat and several
international tours, he turned his attention to heavier-than-air
craft, creating the #14bis in 1906 and the
Demoiselle (his last aircraft) in 1908. Stricken in 1910 with
what would be posthumously diagnosed as multiple sclerosis, Santos
withdrew from aeronautics and took up astronomy.
During World War I Santos was falsely suspected of being a German
spy. In disgust, he burned all of his papers. As the severity of his
disease progressed, he grew increasingly despondent over the use of
aircraft as weapons of war. In 1931, his family brought the
emotionally frail Santos back to Brazil. He hanged himself in
São Paolo on July 23, 1932. He is buried in Rio de Janeiro.
In this activity, students to perform tests to determine how various
wing angles affect flight characteristics.
Key Terms
dihedral: the upward or downward inclination of an aircraft
wing from true horizontal.
lateral: acting or moving to the side, or at a 900
angle to an object.
oscillation: the rhythmic pattern of pitch change (the up or
down movement) of the nose of an aircraft.
pitch: an up or down movement of the nose of an aircraft.
roll: an up or down movement of the wings of an aircraft.
stall: a sudden loss of lift that occurs when the airflow
over the wings is disrupted or lost because the angle of attack (the
angle of the wings to the airflow) is too high; as a result, the
plane enters into a downward dive.
yaw: movement of the nose of the aircraft from side to side.
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Identify a testing area for the students to use during the
activity, such as a school gymnasium or hallway. Introduce the
following key terms that will help students create their
aircraft and record data about its behavior: dihedral, roll,
lateral, oscillation, pitch, stall, and yaw (see Key Terms on
page 2 for definitions).
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Organize the class into teams and distribute the materials to
each team. Review the handout with students.
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Instruct each team to create a set of four models using the
design template. Demonstrate how to fold the wings for each
model, using the gum eraser as the guides for the angles of the
dihedral in models 2-4. (Gum erasers come in small and large
sizes, but both have at least one dimension that is 2.5
centimeters, which is what the height should be between the end
of the wing tip and the table.) Once students fold the wings
upward, the airplane should sit level on the tabletop between
the two erasers.
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Prior to having students test their models, review launching
techniques. Demonstrate how to hold and to launch the models
from the launching system using a gentle, horizontal
push. Emphasize the importance of uniform launching. Encourage
teams to share their observations and ideas on how to best
launch their models, taking into consideration which areas of
the room might have any wind currents. Have students practice
launching their models before recording data to determine the
best launch method.
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Have teams test their models at the four angles listed on the
student handout and complete at least ten trials at each angle.
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Reconvene the class to discuss each team's findings. Ask teams
to share how their models behaved in flight. Make a chart on the
board and have teams describe and record each of the models'
behaviors. Was there a difference due to the dihedral wing angle
and placement? Determine the differences in behavior of the
model types. Which model was able to sustain the smoothest
flight? Why might some teams have gotten different results with
the same planes as others?
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As an extension, have students conduct research to identify some
other key players who contributed to the development of reliable
aircraft. Create a list of at least five aviation pioneers who
contributed to flight prior to the First World War (1914-1918).
What characteristics did these pioneers share that made them
successful in their efforts?
Aircrafts with a dihedral design have a slight angle to their wings
that goes upward from where the wing attaches to the body outwards
toward the tip. This design is used to improve lateral stability. If
one wing begins to drop, the airplane will begin to sideslip in the
direction of the dropping wing.
Because of the dihedral angle of the wings, the relative wind
(created by movement of an airfoil through the air) will strike the
lower wing at a greater angle of attack than the upper wing,
producing more lift in the lower wing and helping return the
aircraft to a stable lateral position.
The folds at the front of the wing on student models provide a
well-defined leading edge and concentration of mass for the paper,
causing the airplane to fall forward and to create a basic airfoil
shape that generates the lift along the upper surface of the paper.
Santos used the dihedral concept in the main wing of the
#14bis. This design provided stability to his plane as it
moved through the air, as the shape (at a low angle) resists roll,
one of the three main forces acting on any aircraft.
As students experiment with their models, they will find that the
models do not fly exactly the same way each time they are launched.
This is common with an ultralight aircraft (a lightweight
recreational aircraft), especially in areas where wind currents can
be unpredictable. The activity is designed with ten trials for each
model so students can observe the generalized flight characteristics
of the models.
Adding dihedral to a wing increases its lateral (roll) stability.
However, as dihedral increases, lift is lost as the wing's angle of
attack decreases. The dihedral of a wing should be enough to steady
the plane and yet not so much as to reduce the lift capacity. In the
model where the dihedral angle is high (model 4), the wing remains
somewhat stable because the dihedral does not make up the entire
length of the wing.
Student Handout Questions
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Describe the behavior of your team's models at each angle you
tested.
Answers will vary.
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What are some variables that affect the flight behavior of the
plane?
Some variables include wing angles, wind currents, and
differences in how the planes are launched.
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Compare the flight stability of the different angles you chose
to test. At which wing angle(s) was the flight most stable? At
which angle(s) does the plane fail to fly well? What may be the
reason?
Models 2 and 3 will fly the best; model 1 will not fly as
well because there is no dihedral angle, while model 4 will
not fly well because the dihedral angle is too high.
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What may be causing any wind currents in the room? What effect
may these currents have on the models?
The movement of students in and around each other in a gym or
hallway will stir wind currents that may not be perceptible to
the students but which readily affect the flight
characteristics of the models.
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How can the effect of wind currents be determined in the
launching area?
Test where no one else is testing, where there are no
currents; then test where many students are testing, where
there is a lot of air circulating. Observe how wind currents
impact flight.
Web Sites
NOVA—Wings of Madness
www.pbs.org/nova/santos/
Read Santos's own account of his first balloon ascent, learn of his
efforts to devise a compact personal aircraft, see a slide show of
the
Demoiselle, and view other influential planes of Santos's
era.
Alberto Santos-Dumont
www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=428
Profiles the life of this early aviation pioneer.
Highlights in Aviation: Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazil
www.smithsonianeducation.org/scitech/
impacto/graphic/aviation/alberto.html
Outlines Santos's contributions as a pivotal innovator in the
history of flight.
Books
Man Flies: The Story of Alberto Santos-Dumont, Master of the
Balloon
by Nancy Winters. Ecco Press, 1998.
Tells the story of how wealthy Brazilian heir Santos became
interested in, and then abandoned, the development of human flight.
My Airships: The Story of My Life
by Alberto Santos-Dumont. Dover Publications, Inc., 1973.
Explains, in Santos's own words, his work with balloons and
dirigibles.
Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of
Flight
by Paul Hoffman. Hyperion, 2003.
Chronicles Santos's triumphs, his brief decade of world fame, and
his descent into despair.
The "Winging It"" activity aligns with the following National
Science Education Standards (see
books.nap.edu/html/nses).
Grades 5-8
Science Standard B
Physical Science
Motions and forces
Classroom Activity Author
A teacher for 34 years, Steven Branting serves as a consultant for
gifted and innovative programs in the Lewiston, Idaho, public
schools and is a cartographer for the Lewis & Clark Rediscovery
Project. Branting and his students have won international honors in
physics, engineering and digital mapping.
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