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Aerospace Team ONLINEUPDATE #50 - February 5, 1999 PART 1: Upcoming Chats UPCOMING CHATS
QuestChats require pre-registration. Unless otherwise noted, registration is at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/chats Plan ahead for February Black History Chats February is Black History Month. To celebrate, NASA Quest will host a series of chats with African American scientists and engineers who contribute their work to the missions and goals of NASA. For more information go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk99 Tuesday, February 9, 1999, 10 AM Pacific Standard Time: Chris Lockwood, lead engineer, Balance Calibration Lab Chris works with a team of four engineers who meet with principal investigators or test engineers responsible for conducting tests of models in wind tunnels. Chris' team is responsible for ensuring that all the loads going to wind tunnel balances are measured accurately. They must also make sure that data are processed and equations provided to allow wind tunnel engineers to determine what is happening to a model. Read Chris Lockwood's autobiography prior to joining this chat. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/team/clockwood.html Wednesday, February 10, 1999, 10 AM Pacific Standard Time: Tom Glasgow, materials scientist For the past several years, Tom has helped design experiments and equipment for space shuttle microgravity science experiments. He has also helped develop new materials for jet engines and rocket motors, and invented a new rocket engine material that stands up to 6000 degree F combustion temperature. Read Tom Glasgow's autobiography prior to joining this chat. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/team/glasgow.html Tuesday, February 16, 1999, 10 AM Pacific Time: Steve Englehart, author Steve is the author of the book Countdown to Flight. His book focuses on the lives of Orville and Wilbur Wright and their work of creating a heavier-than-air, powered air craft, that could be controlled during all aspects of flight. Steve's book uses aeronautical terms and discusses research by the brothers' peers to develop the story about the invention of the airplane. Read about the Wright Brothers prior to joining this chat. Registration for this chat will begin on February 2. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/team/englehart.html Tuesday, February 23, 1999, 11 AM Pacific Time: Pete Zell, facility manager, NFAC Pete is the facility manager for the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC). He is responsible for making sure that a customer's requirements are being met for testing activities, and monitioring the day to day operations of the facility. Additionally, he manages a staff of people who work on test operations and the facility engineering tasks required for testing. His staff also tests instrumentation, software, and data acquisition systems. Read Pete Zell's profile prior to joining this chat. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/team/zell.html PROJECT NEWS
Live Webcast February 19th! Please save one hour to view the lift in of the AIAA 1903 Wright Flyer Model into the 40' x 80' wind tunnel, 10 a.m. Pacific Time, Friday, February 19, 1999. History meets technology when the precise replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer enters the state of the art wind tunnel! See and hear pre-recorded tape of the Engine Test of the Wright Flyer. Find the answer to the question what does it sound like? Ask questions of Pilot #1, Fred Culick. Learn how to attend this event! Go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/adto/wfo2.html - - - - - - - Wind Tunnel Data Lessons Revised Are you planning to teach a lesson on tables and graphs using the Wright Flyer Wind Tunnel Test Data which will be posted on Quest during the test in "Near-Real" Time? We have put up several lessons in the teachers lounge at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/teachers/ Know all the Angles now has a lesson for the Wright Flyer Data, called Know all the Wright Angles and Watch you Attitude will have a lesson for using the data soon!! Please check the revisions! - - - - - - - February Recyclable Model Contest Hate to waste? Put your recyclables to good use! Design your model of the 1903 Wright Flyer out of recycled materials. Be creative and earth friendly!! For details go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/events/contest/recyclable.html - - - - - - - Congratulations to the Winners of the December Poetry Contest! Danielle Cooke, 4th Grade, Misawa, Japan, 1st place. Alison Colvin, 6th Grade, Fillmore, Indiana, 1st place. Jaime Boyd, 8th Grade, Victoria, B.C., CANADA 1st place. Go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/events/contest/gallery.html to read the poems - - - - - - - Collaborative Events! Several new aeronautics projects have students working collaboratively online. One activity is targeted for elementary and middle school classes. Two others will be for high school or junior high school kids. These higher end activities might not be done as an entire class; other users may include science clubs, GATE kids or science fair folk. The ELEMENTARY / MIDDLE SCHOOL - Right Flying: students improve glider designs. Next session starts in February. HIGH SCHOOL / JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL - Wind Tunnel Online Design students work together to design small wind tunnels. Session has begun but late comers are welcome. For more detailed summaries of these three activities, go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/events/collaborative/index.html - - - - - - - Teacher Chat on Wind Tunnel Data Lessons We have received no input! Would you be interested? Recognizing that some teachers might have some questions about the Wind Tunnel Data Lessons, http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/teachers/ we are planning a chat with Suzanne Ashby, Curriculum Specialist who has written some of the data lessons. We are asking for your suggestions as to what time of day would work for you. Would you attend if we held the chat at 1:00 PM Pacific Time. The chat is currently planned for February 23, 1999. We would also be interested in any particular questions you want answered during the event. Send your time suggestions and topic questions to slee@mail.arc.nasa.gov We'll try to get your questions answered. - - - - - - - 1903 Wright Flyer Model Status T minus 3 weeks Plans are proceeding on schedule to test the Wright Flyer model during the first two weeks in March! On February 13, the model's engine will be tested. Also during that time, noise measurements will be taken and evaluated for potential effect on data acquisition. Plans for wiring the sensors are being finalized and the rollstop for the model has been built. The sting will be moved into the 40' x 80' wind tunnel on February 16th or 17th. Once the sting is installed the balance will be mounted and calibrated on the sting. The wires coming from all the gages in the balance will be braided and sleeved. Assuming all goes well, the model will be lifted into the test section of the 40x80 wind tunnel on February 19, and prepared for the test. Quest is planning a live Web cast (currently scheduled for 10:00 a.m. that day). More information will be available shortly on the Special Events page at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/events/ Ames is planning a media day on March 3, so be sure to watch the news that day! [Editor's Note: Chris Lockwood is the Lead Engineer of the Balance Calibration Laboratory. He and his team calibrate all the internal balances for models in wind tunnel tests. Read his biography at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/team/clockwood.html ] CALIBRATING THE WRIGHT FLYER BALANCE December 23, 1998 By Chris Lockwood The balance is a device inside the model that measures how much the model is being pushed, pulled or twisted. We put very precise loads on the balance in the lab, before the test begins to make sure it tells us the correct force or torque like putting a 100 pound weight on the bathroom scale and making sure it reads 100 lbs. The way that we typically put a load on a balance is to hang a weight at a very precise location and angle relative to the balance. The problem is that you can't get gravity to go upward. You can't hang a load in one location and hang another load in the opposite direction somewhere else on the balance. It's very hard to get combination loads into these devices. However, balances experience combination loads in a wind tunnel tests. We have developed a new machine here that can impart loads on to the balances in six axises. That represents all the dimensions of forces and moments. The three dimensions in which forces can be applied, up/down, fore-and-aft and side-to-side. Then you have twisting moments or torques so you have three rotations and three directions. This machine will apply loads in all six degrees of freedom simultaneously. I have worked on this Automatic Balance Calibration Machine for the past six years. It senses the position of the balance. It also has rods with electric actuators that extend and contract to push and pull, and twist the balance in any direction. The machine is just coming into use now we are currently testing it's accuracy compared to the dead weight loads that we have used up to now. The test instrument for the machine, is also the balance that will be used for the Wright Flyer test. In testing the balance we are after repeatability. We should get the same results with the dead weights that we get with the Automatic Balance Calibration Machine. We will repeat the many different loadings, multiple times to make sure we are consistent. The balance is a 4 inch (referring to the diameter) Mk II C. Made by Able Corporation this balance will take 8000 pounds of lift, that would be two and a half or three cars! It is a fairly strong device. The Wright Flyer model is very unique in that it probably only weighs 1000 lbs. And to fly, it needs enough lift to over come it's weight. This balance can take 8,000 lbs. of lift so it is only using a small percentage of the capacity of the balance. But the wings are so wide, the wingspan is so huge compared to the balance that if there is a couple of hundred pounds difference from one wing tip to the other it will make the model want to roll. We are very close to the balance capacity in the strain gage that measures roll. To prevent damage to the model during the wind tunnel test the AIAA team has built a roll stop into the connection between the balance (and model) and structure in the tunnel that supports the model. SUBSCRIBING AND UNSUBSCRIBING
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