Diseño De Alas (Inglés)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

GRADES

K-12

Wing Design

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Museum

BOX
Series
www.nasa.gov

in a

parts of an airplane

MUSEUM IN A BOX

(Photo courtesy of NASA - www.nasaimages.org)

Wing Design
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students will learn about forces, motion, and properties of objects and materialsthrough the concepts of basic wing design. They will begin by exploring birds’ wings and discovering the properties required for successful flight. Next they will move to basic aircraft wing shapes and finally, calculate some basic wing parameters.

Objectives
Students will: 1. Discover how the feathers on different varieties of birds relate to their ability to fly. 2. Learn how airplane wings aredesigned for specific tasks and situations. 3. Learn the basic math behind wing design.

Materials:
In the Box
Ostrich Feather Turkey Feather

Provided by User
Ruler

GRADES

K-12 Time Requirements: 1 hour 10 minutes


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parts of an airplane

Background

Wing Design
Wing design is constantly evolving. If you were to compare the wing of the Wright Flyer (Img. 1) with thatof a modern aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 (Img. 2), the difference is remarkable. The number of lifting surfaces, shape, size and materials used all contribute to an aircraft’s performance. Since the 1930’s, NASA and its predecessor NACA have been on the forefront of wing design, developing the basic airfoil shapes airplane manufacturers have used ever since to provide the lift component that isvital to air travel. Before a wing is designed, its mission has to be determined. What type of aircraft will this wing be attached to? Will it need to operate at high altitudes with thin atmospheres? Will it have to carry heavy loads? Will it need space to mount the engines? How much fuel will we want to store inside? How fast or agile will the aircraft need to be? The list of potentialspecifications is long and highly complex.
Img. 2 Boeing 787
(Photo courtesy of Boeing) (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License)

Img. 1 The 1903 Wright Flyer

The same type of design challenges can be seen in nature with our feathered friends, the birds. While all birds have wings, not every bird can fly. Take the ostrich (Img. 3) for example. It is a large bird, weighing onaverage nearly 200 pounds, but its wings are short and its feathers are fluffy and undefined. No matter how hard it tries, the wing will never be able to produce enough lift for the ostrich to fly.

(Photo courtesy of Lost Tribe Media, Inc.)

Img. 3 An ostrich with folded wings

parts of an airplane

MUSEUM IN A BOX
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The seagull (Img. 4) on the other hand is a small bird, weighingbarely 2 pounds, but has long, thin wings which are perfect for gliding on the coastal breezes. It needs airflow over the wing to work though, so in order to fly the bird has to first run forwards to increase the airflow over its wings, just as a plane would on the runway. The robin (Img. 5) uses a very different style of wing. To avoid predators such as cats, it needs to be able to jump quickly intothe air and does so using short, fast moving wings that provide lots of lift, but at the sacrifice of forward speed. Lastly, some predatory birds, such as hawks, need the ability to fly quickly in order to catch their prey, but also need to carry the meal home to their offspring. To achieve this, they are able to fold their wings back while diving, giving them a fast, sleek appearance for theattack, but a wide, large wingspan for carrying heavy loads on the journey home.
(Photo courtesy of Fauxpasgrapher, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License)

MUSEUM IN A BOX
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((Photo courtesy of Arnold Paul, CC BY-SA 2.5 License)

Img. 4 A seagull in flight

Img. 5 A robin in flight

parts of an airplane

Compromises

As with everything in life there are compromises and this is no different with...