Students Air Their Design Know-How

The students wound the tiny plastic propellers and let their model airplanes go. Most of the light planes glided for several seconds as the students marveled at their paper and wood creations.

Even when the planes smacked into the ground or a wall at John F. Kennedy High School on Thursday morning, the strong but flexible models usually survived intact.

“They are designed to take a beating,” joked Daniel Roberts, 16.

Several students gathered in the center of campus to test the model planes they built in two summer technology classes.

In making the planes, about 70 youths have learned aeronautical terminology, aviation terms and the parts of an airplane, said teacher Robert Hazard. They also watch flight videos and listen to Van Nuys Airport frequencies for conversations between pilots and tower control operators, he said.

Hazard said the class gives students a chance to apply their science and math knowledge.

“It’s a lot of hands-on work,” he said. “They are performing tasks they learned in academic classes.”

The students take about 10 hours to make the planes, carefully measuring the wings and rudders. They build the models with a light balsa wood, paper, glue, piano wire and plastic tires and propellers.

“I learned to find the [plane’s] center of gravity,” said Yun Zhu, 16. “You have to balance it so the plane won’t dip up and down.”

Winding the propeller, which is tied to a rubber band under the plane, keeps it in the air for up to a minute as the band uncoils, Hazard said. The planes, less than a foot long and weighing only a few ounces, can fly as high as 75 feet.

But just keeping the planes in the air for seconds remains a challenge for most students.

“There have been several crashes here and there,” Daniel said. “Wind is another problem.”

Flying the plane hasn’t been easy for Yun either.

“It keeps on falling. I don’t think I’ve gotten the hang of it yet,” she said.

Many of the students take the class to satisfy a requirement for technology credits to graduate. Luis Ramirez said the class allows him to use aerodynamics knowledge he picked up in middle school. He said flying the model planes beats watching TV at home.

“It gives me something to do during the summer,” Luis said. “It’s not all book work.”