Flight without power: How to build and pilot a glider

129 Pages·04.717 MB·English

by  Weems, Eleanor Marie

FLIGHT WITHOUT POWER
HOW TO-BUILD. AND PILOT A GLIDER
A course in aero n au tics
fo r High School stu d en ts
A P ro je c t
P resented to
the F acu lty of the School of E ducation
The U n iv ersity of Southern C a lifo rn ia
In P a rtia l F u lfillm en t
of the R equirem ents fo r the Degree
M aster of Science in E ducation
by
ELEANOR MARIE WEEMS
June 1950
UMI Number: EP46130
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This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
Date......................June..1950............................
Adviser
< £L~ fl.'Z U ''
Dean
PREFACE
Our educational, system has been challenged by the tr e ­
mendous grow th of a v ia tio n during the la s t tw enty y e ars.
I t has an o b lig a tio n to keep pace w ith th is scien ce, and to
open the stu d e n ts’ eyes and minds to the new w orld about
them . They w ill reach m aturity in an a ir w orld, v a stly d if ­
fe re n t from the w orld of earthbound g en eratio n s before them .
The proper d ire c tio n in th e ir use of the a ir can help in
build in g a fin e r c iv iliz a tio n * This d ire c tio n fa r transcends
the tra in in g of p ilo ts and bu ild in g of fly in g m achines. I t
is more a developm ent of rig h t a ttitu d e s toward the freedom
of the a ir , and a re s u lta n t re sp e c t fo r a ll of the freedom s.
A lthough approxim ately 43% of our n a tio n 's high schools
now o ffe r some form of a v ia tio n c o u rse,1 too many of them
f a i l to explore the lim its of stu d en t in te re s t or cap acity .
In stead of solving stu d e n ts' problem s through r e a lis tic ac­
tiv itie s , they fe a tu re a "c a re fu l r e c ita l of the perform ance
of o t h e r s . T h e r e is no su rer way to d estro y in te re s t in
-kr. T. G ueting, J r .: The A viation A nnual. Double­
day, Doran and C o., Hew York, 1946. (p . 147)
. l . Engle h a rd t, J r .: Educatio n fo r the A ir Age.
M acm illan C o., Hew York, 1942. (p. 2T"
iii
a v ia tio n . We should be warned of th is by D r. Claude C.
Craw ford, who has w ritte n the follow ing in How to Teach.^
“When a person is in te re ste d or m otivated, h is m oti­
v atio n c o n sists of an urge or d riv e o r ten sio n to do some­
th in g th a t w ill brin g him some form of s a tis fa c tio n . I f
th ere is nothing to do th e re is no interest.**
This is in d ire c t agreem ent w ith John Dewey's s ta te ­
m ent th a t appears in Democracy and Education.4
"Schools re q u ire , fo r th e ir f u ll e ffic ie n c y , more op­
p o rtu n ity fo r co n jo in t a c tiv itie s in which those in stru c te d
take p a rt, so th a t they may acq u ire a so c ia l sense o f th e ir
own pow ers, and of the m a te ria ls and appliances u sed ."
T his course in g lid in g is an attem pt to fu n c tio n alize
th e a v ia tio n course which can be given in an average high
school. I t c a lls fo r co n jo in t a c tiv itie s from the moment
the g lid e r model is chosen by the stu d en ts who w ill b u ild
and p ilo t o r c o n tro l i t , u n til each has reached the le v e l
of g lid e r f lig h t w ith in h is a b ility . The p lan has grown
out of th e w rite r's experience in teaching courses which
o ffered power plane in stru c tio n to those who q u a lifie d fo r
governm ent sch o larsh ip s. The a c tu a l f lig h t in stru c tio n
reached too few , and the end of the sch o larsh ip system te r -
^C . C. Crawford: How to Teach. C. C. C raw ford,
Los A ngeles, 1938. Cp.82)
4 John Dewey: Democracy and E ducation. M acm illan
C o., Hew ¥ork, 1916. (p .48)
m inated the p ra c tic a lity of th is type of program* The sub­
s titu tio n of a ground g lid e r fo r teaching f lig h t co n tro l
techniques reached every stu d en t a t m oderate expense, but
i t l e f t them where stu d en ts of a v ia tio n are unw illing to
rem ain, on the ground*
In th is co u rse, th e ground g lid e r has been replaced
by a prim ary or secondary flig h t g lid e r* Thus, every stu ­
dent w ill s t i l l be reached a t l i t t l e c o st, and those who
d e sire a c tu a l flig h t tra in in g w ill be able to have i t .
Id e a lly , the course is to s ta r t w ith the b u ild in g of the
g lid e r in the school shop. There are no s k ills demanded
in th is co n stru ctio n which would be beyond high school boys
and g ir ls working in the average shop.
W hile the b u ild in g is underway, plans are made fo r
re g is te rin g i t , and a study is made of the way i t w ill be­
have in the a ir . When the g lid e r is ready to be taken to
the fie ld , the techniques of groundwork are explored before
a c tu a l f lig h t is begun. The la s t p a rt of the course is a
look in to the fu tu re when g lid in g s k ills m ight advance to
become in te re s ts in soaring and sa ilp la n in g .
Many of the books and .visual aid s lis te d are power
f lig h t refe ren c es, but they are offered fo r the help they
can be in g lid e r flig h t. To o ffe r a d d itio n a l reading m at­
te r , the m ost re c e n t magazine a rtic le s on g lid in g are lis te d .
V
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER * PAGE
PART X. PREPARATION
HOW TO SELECT AND BUILD A GLIDER
1* SELECTION: How to choose your g lid e r . . . . . . 2
2* CONSTRUCTION: How to cover your g lid e r’s w ings . 9
3 . REGISTRATION: How to re g is te r your g lid e r . . . 15
4 . AERODYNAMICS: How to achieve g lid e r s ta b ility . 20
5* AERODYNAMICS: How to use the a ir as a slid in g
board • • • • » • • . . . . . . . 25
6 . AERODYNAMICS: How to determ ine th e fo rce s
a ctin g on your g lid e r . . . . . . 30
PART I I . GROUNDWORK
HOW TO HANDLE THE GROUND DETAILS OF GLIDING
7 . COMMUNICATION: How to give sig n a ls to g lid in g
personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8 . GROUND. CREW: How to be an ex p ert glider
a tten d a n t . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
9 . SAFETY: How to make your p re -flig h t check . . . 47
10. PRELIMINARIES: How to s e le c t and adapt your
tow car . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
11. EQUIPMENT: How to se le c t and handle your
tow lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
12. GROUND CREW: How to man the re trie v e r car . . . 62
CHAPTER PAGE
PART I I I . PLIGHT
HOW TO PILOT YOUR GLIDER
13. FLIGHT: How to tow and launch your g lid e r . . 67
14. FLIGHT: How to make approaches and landings . 72
15. FLIGHT: How to use your s tic k and rudder . . . 78
16* FLIGHT: How to g lid e fre e from the tow car . . 82
17. FLIGHT: How to execute elem entary g lid in g
m aneuvers • 87
PART IV . YOUR FUTURE
HOW TO ADVANCE TO SOARING FLIGHT
18. METEOROLOGY: How to trac e a therm al or catch
a cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
19. INSTRUMENTS: How to use g lid in g instrum ents * 98
20. CERTIFICATION: How to g e t your g lid in g
c e rtific a te and ra tin g . . . . 103
BIBLIOGRAPHY i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
VISUAL A I D S ......................... 114
A GLIDING GLOSSARY . . ..................... . . . . . . . . . . 117
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1. Approxim ate C h a ra c te ristic s of a Prim ary
T raining G lid er .......................................... 35
2* Approxim ate C h a ra c te ristic s of a Secondary
T raining G lid er • 65
3* C h a ra c te ristic s of a Popular Am erican U tility
G lid er . . * * . . 91
1
PART I . PRELIMINARIES
HOW TO PREPARE FOR GLIDING ACTIVITY
P rep aratio n is an im portant p a rt of any a c tiv ity or
sp o rt in high school, but never could i t be more im portant
than in a course in g lid in g . W hether you plan to b u ild
your own g lid e r, or buy one m anufactured under an approved
type c e rtific a te , you w ill want to put sa fety f i r s t in a ll
of your co n sid era tio n s. W hile your g lid e r is being p re­
pared fo r f lig h t, you w ill have ample opportunity to plan
fo r i ts re g is tra tio n . T his would also be the b est tim e to
look in to the physics of f lig h t in order to be a more under
standing p ilo t when i t is your tu rn to take the c o n tro ls.