Unit timeline, storyline & project files

Tuesday, 17 Feb

Objective: Collect data from three take-offs; create a series of graphs to uncover patterns and generate questions

Agenda:

1. Welcome & overview
2. Why collect flight data?
  1. Flying is one of the safest modes of transportation.
    1. NOTE: Data do not include 29 Jan 2025 crash between American Airlines Flight 5342 and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk in Washington DC, an accident in which 67 people died.
  2. On Monday, 17 February 2025, a Delta Flight traveling from Minneapolis to Toronto landed, rolled, and burst into flame.
    1. Everyone on board (76 passengers and 4 crew) survived!
  3. What data would help investigators determine what caused the crash? Briefly justify your response.
  4. Aircraft data is recorded on a flight data recorder called a "black box"
3. Unlocking the black box
  1. Simulators give us access to thousands of parameters. Carefully constructed simulators and the data they output help us understand how actual aircraft perform and how their systems interact with each other, the pilots' commands, and the environment.
  2. Attend to this presentation to learn how to unlock the virtual black box in our simulator
  3. DELIVERABLE: Create a strip chart using the data you collected due Wednesday, 18 Feb / Thursday, 19 Feb @ start of class
    1. If you need sample data, use the data from your instructor.
    2. Success criteria
      1. To earn a 3:
        
        Three high-quality graphs with legends, different colors for different parameters, and same range on x-axis
      2. To earn a 4: Data from flights you have flown
    3. Save your data to OneDrive > 2025 - 26 > science > flight. Create a sharing link to your Excel file
    4. Paste the link in this form
4. Next steps and closing

Homework:
due Wednesday, 18 Feb / Thursday, 19 Feb @ start of class Create a strip chart using your data [see agenda item 3.d.]

Wednesday, 18 Mar / Thursday, 19 Feb

Objective: Design flight test experiment; conduct baseline test

Agenda:

1. Welcome & overview
  1. Check in with your tablemates
  2. Looking back
    1. We interpreted data from a graph of an aircraft's motion and learned how to make our own graphs
    2. We heard from three flight test engineers and pilots
  3. Looking forward
    1. We will design a flight test experiment of our own
    2. We will collect baseline data and create graphs to visualize changes in the aircraft's motion
    3. We will analyze the graphs and evaluate them for consistency
2. Design a flight test experiment
  1. Orientation
  2. Organization
    1. Operations:
      1. Make a copy of this template. Save it to your flight test folder.
      2. Give your teammates editing access.
      3. Create a link and submit it in this form
    2. Everyone else
      1. From OneDrive > shared with me, create a shortcut to this template and save it in YOUR flight test folder.
  3. Mechanics
    1. Select a plane
      1. Teams with lots of novice pilots: choose some heavy plane loaded by default in X-Plane 11
      2. Teams with more experienced pilots: you may consider other planes
    2. Discuss and identify parameters that you think will have the most significant impact or are the most interesting to investigate
    3. Identify baseline values for each parameter you selected
    4. Identify low corner conditions and high corner conditions
    5. Predict how takeoff performance will change as the parameter you selected increases.
    6. DELIVERABLE: complete draft of experimental plan <end of class today
3. Break
4. Our target for today is for each person to collect baseline data by successfully completing each of the following steps:
  1. Data collection: checklist visual aid
  2. Data reduction
  3. Data representation
    1. Pitch and altitude vs. time
    2. Thrust and velocity vs. time
    3. Weight and distance vs. time
5. Mechanics
  1. Work with a partner
    1. Partner 1
      1. Bring up instructions
      2. Read them aloud to your partner
    2. Partner 2
      1. Follow the instructions as your partner reads them
    3. Use Post-It flags to indicate your progress: blue: making reasonable progress yellow: we could use some help sometime orange: we are stuck; our neighbors cannot help us either
  2. Save your data
    1. Naming conventions: yyyy mm dd: condition 1
    2. If you test on 18 Feb 2026, save your data as 2026 02 18: condition 1
  3. Extract your data
  4. Reduce your data
  5. Represent your data in three graphs
  6. DELIVERABLE: create a sharing link, paste it into your experimental design organizer [see Monday, 3 March > agenda item 4.b]
    1. Finish your completed graphs for condition 1 OR your questions due @ Friday
6. Next steps and closing

Homework:
due start of class Friday Completed graphs for condition 1

Friday, 20 Feb

Objective: Catch up on work from block day

Agenda:

1. Welcome & overview
2. Check in
3. Help and get help with
  1. flying
  2. extracting data
  3. reducing data
  4. representing data in graphs
4. due start of class Monday Completed graphs for condition 1

Postpone the original lesson [below] until Monday, 23 Feb

Friday, 20 Feb

Objective: Evaluate baseline test data; refine technique

Agenda:

1. Welcome & overview
2. Our target for today is to analyze baseline data and to compare each person's baseline data for consistency by answering the following questions:
  1. Did the pilot conduct the test accurately?
  2. What was takeoff distance for each flight?
  3. Are the data consistent?
  4. What are some interesting patterns or questions in the data?
3. Model: Attend to this brief presentation
  1. Accuracy?
    1. Full throttle?
    2. Pitch 12 - 15 degrees?
  2. Takeoff distance
    1. Use graph to narrow your search in the data
    2. Report specific data point: 35' above ground level
  3. Consistency
    1. Compare takeoff distances from flight 1, flight 2, and flight 3
  4. Interesting questions or patterns
4. Guided practice
  1. Open this sample data
  2. Analyze it
    1. operations: did pilot conduct test accurately?
    2. communications: takeoff distance
    3. systems engineer: are data consistent? [with science] What might cause inconsistencies?
    4. science: interesting patterns or questions
5. Use YOUR data; work with your peers to analyze it
  1. Organize
    1. Operations
      1. Make a copy of this data analysis and evaluation sheet; save it to your flight test folder on OneDrive
      2. Share it with your team
      3. Create a sharing link and submit it in this form.
    2. Others
      1. From OneDrive > shared with me, create a shortcut and save it to YOUR flight test folder
  2. Mechanics
    1. If you have a teammate who needs some help completing a graph (or ::gulp:: flight), help them.
    2. As a team, review the data from each of your tablemates
      1. Operations: did pilot conduct test accurately?
      2. Communications: what was the takeoff distance for each flight?
      3. Systems engineer: are data consistent?
      4. Science: interesting patterns or questions
    3. Repeat with remaining partners
    4. DELIVERABLE: finish your analysis for condition 1 if you have not already done so
6. Next steps and closing

Homework:
due Sunday, 22 Feb @ 1000 PST (10 am) Finish your analysis for condition 1 if you have not already done so [agenda item 5]