‘Power pole planes' prove popular project at Kittatinny High School

Newton - Engineering students at Kittatinny Regional High School recently worked on a classroom assignment, “power pole planes.” After researching different airfoil shapes, students designed and constructed templates for their individual planes, then used an automatic hot wire wing cutter to carve out their creations from two-inch rigid insulation foam. Tails for the planes were cut from the polystyrene material used for supermarket meat trays. One of the project goals was to find the perfect weight-to-lift ratio. Another was to create a plane that obtains stable flight with the least amount of electricity supplied to the motor. After the planes were assembled, the students were able to fly their planes around a power pole using a variable voltage controller and a length of telephone cord. The project allowed students to become familiar with specific design considerations, including center of gravity, wing dihedral, wing loading, lift, drag, and all the control surfaces that allow for flight. This hands-on assignment has become one of the more popular projects for first-year engineering students at Kittatinny.