Author: Flite Test STEM
Learning Strand: Ft Workbench
Level: All School Levels
Length: 3 hours. 3–4 periods of Fundamentals 2 Flight based on exemple schedule
Standards Addressed:
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION STANDARDS
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHER MATHEMATICS STANDARDS
MEASUREMENT
DATA ANALYSIS AND PROBABILITY
STUDENTS WILL
FT AIRCRAFT
FT Tiny Trainer See store for purchasing options
Note: If needed, you can pair students to one FT Tiny Trainer
TOOLS
All the tools you need for this build are included in FT Crafty Kits. See store for purchasing options
Items included in the Crafty Kit can be seen in the image below.
Not sure how much you need? Email our support team and we will help find you what we need at support@ftstem.com
CREATING THE FT TINY TRAINER
TEACHER NOTE: The following lesson is designed to teach the students the four major forces applied on an aircraft during flight.
Hot Glue Gun and hot glue sticks
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE REGARDING HOT GLUE: Hot Glue Guns get extremely hot, and should always be handled with care. Young students should always be supervised when using hot glue. Review hot glue safety with your students prior to using hot glue guns.
Utility Knives (if you are working with younger students, you can use plastic cards instead of knives)
- Have the students build along, and pause and play when necessary.
- Students need to finish their Tiny Trainer prior to moving on to the next activity.
- Make sure that the students are setting up the front nose for gliding, not for motor setup.
- A solid plane starts with a solid fuselage. Always take your time and wait for the glue to dry completely before moving on.
- Be sure to have the push rods cross and go out to the control horns without binding along the way.
- Both noses feature doublers to help reinforce and strengthen the plane for any situation. Using doublers, a beginner should be able to take a few hits and continue flying, if they didn't break a prop of course.
- Be gentle when forming your wing. You shouldn't have to force it too much, and be patient with the glue.
- Use some spare wire to feed the servos through the wing after it's closed up.
- You can create your own Z-Bends with a pair of Z-Bend Pliers: Available Here!
- With the plane nearly done, all that's left is strapping the wing down, and testing your controls.
TESTING THE FORCES USING THE TINY TRAINER
TEACHER NOTE: The following lesson is designed to teach the students the four major forces applied on an aircraft during flight.
Please conduct testing in a safe and open environment. Students should only be throwing gliders to a partner and away from others.
Once testing is complete, have the students share and complete the concluding write-up for assessment.
You're done!