Wright brothers and wing warping- Lesson 8

10/31/2022

manna moment- Humble learners

Proverbs 29:1- "He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing."

What is your first response after you have been corrected or reproved? Do you ignore it and remain stubborn or stiff-necked? Or do you humbly repent, re-evaluate your way and correct what you did wrong? The Wright brothers knew that rigid, stiff, wings would lead to disaster but how could they make flexible wings without sacrificing the integrity of the wing structure? They invented something called wing warping where one wing will twist up while the other wing twists down to be able to provide a way to control 'roll' during flight. This is so that a gust of wind wouldn't come and flip their rigid wings over, plummeting the passenger to the ground in disaster. Let us be humble learners, being willing to admit when we don't know everything and open to twisting a little bit in order to be able to soar like the eagles.

Angle of Attack Demonstration

Question: Will the water flow faster the larger the angle is?

Procedure: Find a flat, square/rectangular piece of plastic. Have a volunteer hold the plastic piece just slightly angles. Note the speed at which the water moves. Have the volunteer increase the angle of the plastic. Note the speed the water moves.

Evidence-based explanation: Because of the greater angle and the pull of gravity, the water flows faster with the larger angle. This is similar to the angle of attack in flight. Air will flow faster and greater the angle of attack of the wing. This produces more lift.

It was hard to see the difference in the water flow on the plastic lid, however, if you looked at how it was rolling off the lid, there was a difference. Not as much water flowed off at the smaller angle as did the larger angle. There were some limitations to this demonstration.

Learning the parts of an airplane

Here is a great video that goes through the different parts of the airplane. We made a printable to go with this video for our Lesson 8 Mysteries of Flight bundle found at the end of this post.

enrichment videos

Wing Warping the Wright Way is a great demonstration of how the Wright Brothers developed wing warping by the Smithsonian Air and Space.

One person made an actual Wright Glider and here is a 41 second clip of what that looks like.

Wing warping investigation

Using the template in the student guidebook and found in the Lesson 8 of Mysteries of Flight bundle, you can investigate some wing warping by folding different corners of a paper glider to see what effect it will have on the how the glider flies. There is a chart with different combinations to try and space for them to document their results.
This is a great opportunity to assess their glider knowing the four forces of flight. Many students were throwing these small gliders very hard and they would just crash. It is possible that they were applying too much thrust to the glider and should adjust accordingly.
In their guidebooks, I encouraged them to take this wing warping and see if it would be helpful in their previous gliders made during class.