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Raven Racer Rating: 4

Level: Beginner Duration: 2 - 4 class periods
Grade Level: NA Author: Pitsco
Topics: Aerodynamics, lift, drag, balance, patterns, center of gravity, center of pressure, 3-D modeling
Materials:  Insta-Cure+ Glue, Pro Survivor Stopwatch, Raven – Getting Started Package (for 30 Students), class data table (see below), graphing paper .

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Objective

Determine the relationship between the number of winds and the flight time.

Description

Pitsco’s Raven activity is an outdoor flight lesson – using the Raven rubber band-powered airplane as the object of the lesson. The Raven is cut out of balsa wood, sanded, and assembled with CA adhesive. The rubber band motor is added to the dihedral-style model, which is then tested to determine the number of winds compared to the flight time.

Procedures

Students construct the Raven rubber band model airplane from Pitsco and trim it to obtain smooth, circular flights on about 50 winds.

After the airplane is trimmed, students will work in teams to time the flight of their Raven airplanes with winds from 100 to 300, in increments of 50 winds. In their data table, students will record their results and observations.

Class data can be collected and graphed.

Discussion

Students can discuss what variables affected the flight times and can determine the nature of the relationship between the number of winds and the flight time.

Continuation

If the mass were to change, how would that affect the results?
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