Wind tunnel models

We have received an instrumented wind tunnel from Gabrielle He's Eagle Scout Project. Unfortunately, it only came with one wing section.
We could use 3D printed wing section airfoils of different profiles for aircraft, helicopters and wind turbines.

Scale models of partial or full aircraft designs and flying animals real or otherwise would also be instructive.
Since land vehicles work in the opposite manner as flying craft, it would be nice to have 3D printed models of cars and trucks to see how well different designs hug the road while encountering wind.
We also would like to try out various buildings and city segments to see how wind circulates around them, and also affects people at the ground level.
As we also have a strong relationship with the Sea Scouts, 3D models of sailing craft would also be nice to test in the tunnel. Any model in the tunnel will need to interface with the vertical load cell pylon that measures drag and lift. Depending on the proposed experiment it may also have to interface with the angle of attack servo motor.

The design of the sample wing with interface areas is available as a Free CAD file or a STL file.
The dimensions of the instrument section of the wind tunnel are:

Wind tunnel experiment design

We have received an instrumented wind tunnel from Gabrielle He's Eagle Scout Project. We need expertise and help in creating meaningful activities using this wonderful contribution. Details at: wind tunnel page

Board Game Tester

We have identified many board games that have the potential to effectively gamify the training of Explorers in specific aviation careers. Board games, if well designed, are effective simulations of business and and military tasks. There are also simulators using computer software, but they entail significant IT infrastructure costs as well as frequent update maintenance cycles. To contain costs and focus volunteer labor on training, paper board games are preferred at this time. As we acquire board games based on online user reviews we need to verify their effectiveness in training Explorers. While this can be a lot of fun for volunteers, it also requires us to be methodical and thorough in our evaluations.

Sailing table construction

We have a working design of a popular exhibit from the San Francisco Sailing Science Center. We need to complete the construction and include wing sails to reflect modern America's Cup sailboats as well as airplane design. Table will be also used by local Sea Scouts.

Structural experiment design

Stephen Ressler and Wayne Place have excellent materials for teaching structural engineering. We need to adapt those ideas to create hands on activities for our Explorers.

Graphics Designer: Memory Game Cards

The plain reality (pun intended) is that professions have heaps of acronyms, jargon and symbols to memorize and understand. Aviation careers are no different. To impart some fun to this learning objective, we will be creating memory card aka Concentration games for each group of knowledge memorization. Both the front and back of the cards will need to be designed. Just the right amount of detail is needed so that the game can function as intended. Too much detail and the game becomes confusing and no longer fun. Too little detail and the game never transfers knowledge to the players. To entice the Explorers to play the game the cards must also be visually appealing and impart a level of excitement. Finished and tested artwork will be subcontracted to a specialty card deck printer. Depending on the results, the card deck games may also be sold by the Explorers as a fundraiser.

Graphics Designer: Coloring Pages

There are coloring books for very young kids and there are coloring books designed to calm down adults. We want to make coloring pages for teens to learn about aviation while doing a focused calming task that builds finger dexterity. Suggested aviation subjects for such coloring sheets are cockpit instruments, electrical and hydraulic schematics, flowcharts, and airport layouts. The level of detail must be appropriate such that the page can be colored easily (actual areas to be colored) but also that there is enough detail to keep the Explorer's mind interested. Text identifying each item in the page will be needed so that learning can take place. In some cases there may need to be a separate or adjacent key to what is being colored. This is a challenging volunteer task that sounds much easier than it actually is. At EAA Young Eagles events we have been testing intermediate level coloring pages with some success. Testing is always important to make sure we get the intended results.

A possible source for interesting and technically detailed coloring pages are blueprints of historic aircraft. Some examples are below. Some images are almost ready to use, others will require some serious editing and some are just not useful or appropriate.

Logistics Mathematician

The games Airport Madness Manager & Low Cost Airline Manager (described above) use dice and a grid/network that roughly approximates the environment. The games have different versions for different environments. Something about the game design hints at a more general principle that could be used to create additional airport versions or more specialized areas of simulation, such as cargo handling. The deluxe versions of the games have features that users have claimed make the game play better and more interesting. This task would be to help the Explorer adults understand the theory behind the games and find ways to use that technique for better and further instructional purposes. Analysis may extend to the other games we will be testing and we would like to steal any good ideas we can find.