Segment 1

(Ted) (Ted dressed in an aviator outfit) Aeronautic Enthusiasts, Listen up.

It’s called the X-Prize. And the Prize is 10-million dollars. That’s a lot of money.

This is an international race to space to develop a commercial plane that takes at least 3 tourists to space.

On the local front, we have our own egg tra ordinary plane contest, and here to tell us about it is our own "prize", I.M. Lissning.

Have you ever heard of an airplane made of egg cartons? Sounds crazy. I personally would never fly in it. But, dozens will compete in the EGG tra ordinary Plane contest. The planes will be judged on how far they fly.

The main rule is that the plane must be made out of egg cartons. More details to come. I just may enter the competition, myself. That’s all for now, I.M. Lissning.

(J) Yeah we know all about the Egg tra ordinary plane competition. Everyone at the competition knows us as the big losers

(B) Every year, we finish in last place. This is our entry from last year.

(J) Your plane looks like a winner compared to mine. Look at my entry from last year.

(K) What did you do?

(J) I just stuck a fuselage through the egg carton.

(brings out and tosses it)

(J) It doesn’t fly at all.

(P.J) ‘My grandmother says you can learn a lot from your failures.

(B) Even the Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, had a few failures before they took that first flight on December 17 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina How do you know that?

(P.J.) I’m reading these facts from this book I found referenced on the NASA Why Files web site. Did you know that a lot of inventors entered aviation contests?

(K) Like us?

(P.J.) Not exactly like us. Back in 1927, Charles Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize of 25 thousand dollars for being the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a plane.

(J) That’s right, he flew from New York to Paris, France.

(B) Without these contests, we might not have the type of airplanes or advanced technology that we have right now.

3. ( K) And don’t forget the Race to Space. If we hadn’t competed with Russia, NASA might not have sent the first man to the Moon.

(B) That’s true.

(J) We need to do more research on The History Of flight. Remember, what we learned at school about Science as Inquiry. Research is important. Let’s surf the Internet. ( Turn to Camera) I’ll let you in on something really neat. NASA has a web site on How Things Fly.

(B) Oh, here’s the Fun Fact File On The History of Flight. Let’s Click here.(Fun Fact File Voice over with historical picture)

Birds fly, so why can’t I? Cave dwellers asked this question as they watched the birds in flight.

In the 15^th century, Leonardo da Vinci drew the first pictures of an airplane, helicopter, and parachute.

By the early 17^th century, "birdmen" strapped wings to their bodies and tried to duplicate bird flight.

4. November 21, 1793, two volunteers stepped into a basket and flew 8 kilometers over Paris, becoming the world’s first aeronauts.

In 1849, Englishman Sir George Cayley created the world’s first fixed -wing glider.

And on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made the first successful controlled powered flight with a pilot on board.

(Tree house)

(P.J.) That’s so cool. It looks like the Pioneers of Aviation had a lot of challenges.

(J) We need to learn more about our challenges and try to win the Egg tra ordinary plane competition.

(K) But how do we that?

5. (B) I think we need to find out how airplanes fly. Let’s start with the History of flight.

(K) Where can we go to learn about the history of flight?

(J) The National Air and Space Museum would be the place to start.

(B) Let’s see if our parents will take us.

(K) We better find our research notebooks so we can take lots of notes! ( TURN TO CAM) I found a get up and go worksheet on the nasa why files web site . This will be just what I need to keep track of what we learn on the trip.

(B) Let’s Get Up and Go!

( NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE)

(B) This is so cool. Look there’s the original Wright Brothers plane.

(K) Look, over there, there’s the Spirit of Saint Louis.

(B) Oh yeah, that’s the plane Charles Lindbergh flew to Paris and he won 25 thousand dollars.

( General Dailie) You two sure know a lot about airplanes.

(K)We would like to learn more about the history of Flight.

You must be the tree house detectives, I’ve heard about you on the news.

(B) You have?

Yes, hello I’m Gen. Dailie.

(B) Can you tell us a little more about the history of the Wright Brothers Plane?

(Dailie Answers)

(K) We know that contests played an important role in the history of aviation. Why is that?

( Dailie Answers)

(B) NASA’s Race to Space was another competition?

(Dailie Answers)

(K) We need to learn more about the four forces of flight. Is there a place here where we can explore?

Mini open with music of how things fly sign, airplanes,ws of bianca in plane

Yes, why don’t you go over there to that room How Things Fly?

( Enter plane)

(B) This is so neat. I wonder if these controls have anything to do with Lift.

(K) Look here’s an experiment on Lift.

( Kid does experiment)

(B) Here’s one on thrust.

(Kid plays around with thrust experiment.)

(K) And another one on Drag

(B) We need to go!

(K) But, I’m having too much fun!

6. (Dr. D’s Lab) ( C) Guess where Bianca went this weekend?

(Dr.D) I don’t know, to outer space?

(B) Funny, Dr. D. I went to the National Air and Space Museum.

(Dr.D) Did you see the Wright Brothers’ Plane?

(B) Yeah it was so cool!

(Dr. D) Did you know, that after the last flight, a gust of wind came up and sent the Wright Flyer tumbling across the sand?

( M) Is that why the "Wright Flyer" never flew again?

(Dr. D) Yes, because it was damaged.

( C) Today, planes are built much differently.

(B) When we were at the museum, we learned about the four forces of flight. Are they important?

7. grphic with plane and four forces

Dr. D: What are the four forces of flight .

( b ) Let's see, there is Lift that pushes a plane upward.

(M) And weight, which is earth’s gravity pulling down on the plane.

( C ): Then Thrust. The force that makes the plane go forward.

( B)Oh yeah and drag.

Why do you think that we must understand all four forces?

( M): I’m not sure. I guess you have to have all of them to make a plane fly.

Dr. D: Yes, they are all connected to each other. For example, changing the thrust affects both the drag and the lift. But we must first examine them individually, before we can understand how they relate to each other.

( B): Can we start with the force of Lift?

Dr D: Sure. What part of the plane do you think provides lift?

( C ): I would say the wings.

Dr. D: That's right. A wing is designed to push air downward. The air flowing over the top of the wing and the air flowing under the wing are both bent downward. These fan blades are just like a wing.. Look at the blades. Do you see how they are angled?

( M ): Yes, why is that?

Dr. D.: The blades are slanted in the direction that they are moving. This angel allows the blades to push the air downward.

(B): How do airplane wings

compare to the fan blade?

Dr. D: As the fan blades spin they cut through the air like an airplane’s wings. Take a look at this model airplane that I got years ago. Notice how the front edge of the wing is higher than the back edge. Lets turn on the fan and see what happens.

(C) The fan blades are pushing a lot of air.

Dr. D: How can we increase the amount of air pushed by the fan?

( M): It could spin faster.

Dr. D: That’s right. A faster spinning fan blade is like an airplane wing moving through the air faster pushing more air downward.

(B): Why does a wing need to push air down?

Dr. D. That’s what provides lift.

( C): I don’t get it, how does pushing air down create lift?

Dr. D: Sir Isaac Newton said, For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. It's called his Third Law.

( C) So that means, if the wing pushes the air downward, then the air pushes up on the wing?

Dr. D: Correct again.

Dr. D will turn on his fan which is on roller skates to demonstrate.

( B): I can believe that the air can push up on this paper airplane and gives it lift, but it's hard to believe that it holds up those big passenger jets.

( C): They are a lot heavier, but I guess that they do have much bigger wings.

Dr. D: It's almost like magic, but it is real science. To really understand lift, you need to visit a wind tunnel. Why don’t you contact Luther Jenkins over at NASA?

(P.J.) Wow, this is really neat.

(Luther ) Have you ever seen a wind tunnel?

(P.J.) I’ve never been in a wind tunnel. But, I’ve seen them on TV.

(Luther) This is one of 30 wind tunnels that are here at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia.

(P.J.) We found out at the National Air and Space Museum that the Wright Brothers actually built a small wind tunnel in 1901. They used a lot of data from the tunnel to build a successful glider.

(Luther) You’re absolutely correct.

(P.J.) What do you use wind tunnels for?

(P.J) What are you going to show ME?

I understand that Dr. D showed you how the angel of the wing helps to push the air downward to create lift. Well, I'm going to show you how it is done. I am going to show you how the air travels over an airplane wing. This is just another way of looking at the same problem.

(P.J.) What? We can see air?

Since we cannot see air, we must visualize it using smoke particles. Do you see how some of the smoke particles that strike the front edge of the wing travel along the upper surface of the wing and some travel along the lower surface.

You're right. The curvature of the top surface causes the smoke to "speed up" or travel faster than the smoke on the bottom surface. The force that is applied by the faster moving air on the top surface is less than the force applied by the slower moving air on the bottom surface. This difference is what creates lift and keeps the plane in the air.

(P.J.) How does a large passenger plane stay in the air? They are so big.

Luther: A passenger plane has larger wings that provide a larger surface area for the air to flow over and this results in a greater lift which makes it possible for the larger planes to fly.

(P.J.) Why is it important to test airplane wings?

It is important to test airplane wings so engineers will know which ones will perform best in their particular design or application. This saves time and money.

( P.J) Do you have to test the whole wing in a wind tunnel?

No, we will test just a section of a wing and it is called an airfoil.

(P.J.) Wow, that’s really neat.I can’t believe I actually saw how fast the air was moving over the wing.

(Tree House kids throwing planes)

(B) I made a new plane for the contest. (turns to camera) By the way, if you would like to design your own plane, click on the Problem Board inside the tree house. Have Fun!

(M) I think it looks better than last year’s entry.

(Kids toss it. It pitches up)

(P.J.) That’s strange ,I wonder why it goes up like that.

(M) We made the plane exactly like last year’s entry. We didn’t win last year but I don’t remember it flying upwards.

(B) It looks like all the variables are the same.

2. (turns to camera) Do you use Scientific Inquiry to help you figure out problems? It really works. Remember when you’re conducting an experiment that it’s very important to keep the variables the same.

(P.J.) Let me see your plane. I want to compare it to last year’s entry. Lets look back in my research notebook for the experiments we did last year. I have it right here.

(M) Our wings are still small.

(P.J.) Let’s use our Problem Board to get organized. (turns to camera) This is actually fun and easy to use. You should try it.

(B) We know the airflow underneath the wing moves slower and creates a higher pressure. Airflow under the wing pushes the wing upward and helps supply lift.

(P.J.)We need to know more about the other forces of flight, Thrust and Drag.

(B) Where do we need to Go?

(Walks to computer)

(B) Maybe, our friends, the Why Files Kids Club, can help us. (Turn to camera) I love talking to the other club members. We are one big team, working together, to solve a problem.

(P.J.) I’ll E mail the club this question. Has anyone done an experiment on how the size of the wing affects lift? Okay done.

(M) I would think so. Just look at history. The Wright Flyer’s wing looks a lot different from today’s planes.

(P.J.) Yes, the wings on the Wright Flyer were really boxy.

(B) I’m receiving a message from the NASA Why Files Kids’ Club. Achievable Dreams School from Newport News, Virginia is currently doing an experiment on the size of the wings.

(B) Let’s click here.

Hi I’m _____ from the fourth grade class of the Achievable Dreams School in Newport News Virginia.

(M) What is the problem you are trying to solve?

( Student) We wanted to know if the size of the wings affected an airplane’s flight.

(P.J.) What was your experiment?

Our teacher Mr. Tyson set up the test area.

Let's take a look at it. It has a hinge with a 62-cm stick attached with a pushpin on the other end. The stick should go up and down freely.

Here is our test fuselage. We will be attaching to it different sized wings that we have made. (Point to the wings lying on a table.)

(B) Why has the propeller been removed?

We are going to be using a fan to create our thrust instead of the propeller.

However, paperclips have been added to replace the weight of the propeller so that we keep our variables the same.

(P.J.)What size of wings are you testing?

The first one has a small surface area (show the wing)

(M)Cool.

Let's test it and see how it lifts.

OK ,We attach the small wing to the fuselage like this. Now we turn the fan to low speed. I think we need to turn it up to medium because the wing is not lifting much.

(B)OK. Wow! Now look at it lift.

It is stable now so add pennies one at a time until the plane will no longer fly.

Wow, it held __5__ paperclips and each penny is about 1.5 grams. So our total weight added was 7 grams. Write that down in our data chart.

You know what Dr. D says though; we have to have several trials to make sure that we have good data.

That's right so we better do it at least two more times. (Repeats exp.)

Now we need to take an average of our data results. Remember how to get an average. Just add up all the numbers and divide by the total number of numbers you added. (graphics showing the addition and division)

we are ready to test the other wing. Remember keep all the variables the same during the experiment. The only variable that will change is the size of the wing.

Let’s take a look at our data.

The small wing held 7.5_ grams of paperclips while the larger wing held ____grams .

So that means that since the larger wing lifted the most weight, it has the best lift.

Wow the size of a wing really does matter. We better work on our plane some more and change the shape of our wing.

(P.J)Newport News isn’t that far away. Let’s go test out our new hypothesis.

(B)Our new hypothesis is if the size of the wings change, then it will affect the lift of the plane.

(Kids from Why Files and Achievable Dreams together throwing paper airplanes.)

( Matthew ) We’re not seeing " lift" here. That’s for sure.

(Jacob) We need to see the planes soar, that’s if we’re going to win the competition.

(P.J.) We need my man, Jackie Chan, to be here. He is the human flying machine.

(Bianca) Yeah right, what could he do?

(P.J.) He’s so cool, I just saw him in a movie and he just flies through their air.

(Jacob) He must know all about the force of "lift."

(Cut to scene of helicopter, flying through the air without Jackie Chan)

Tight shots of Jackie inside helicopter looking outside. Jackie exits helicopter and runs up to kids.)

(Kids, looking dazed and amazed)

( Kali ) Who’s that?

(Bianca) Is that who I think it is?

(P.J.) It’s him, Jackie Chan.

(Jacob) You mean, the martial arts, movie star!

(Matthew) What do you do when you are faced with a challenge?

(J.C) Adlibs.

(Bianca) Is studying that important to solving the problem?

(J.C.) Adlibs

(Catherine ) How can you help us?

(J.C.) I love helping students. Listen, I’m going to show you a SUPER DUPER paper airplane that will help you win this contest!

Just look and learn.

(Cut to shots of four quick folds of Jackie making plane.)

He throws the plane and gives the kids a thumbs up)

(Mr.Chan) Good luck! I know the NASA WHY Files Tree house detectives will be winners

(Matthew) That was really Jackie Chan!

(P.J.) It sure was. You know I just have those connections!

( All) Yeah right! ( everyone throws airplanes at him)

What’s Up

What size should the tree house detectives plan for their plane’s wings?

What should they do next?

How can they get more lift? Tune in next time for another episode of the Case of The Challenging Flight.

(Opening Tree house Scene)

Kids doing experiment with balloons, holding two balloons apart and blowing air between them.

(B) I made our plane wings longer . Look how it flies now.

(J) Wow , what a difference.

( K)Watch this! I’m trying out an experiment that I found on a the NASA Why Files web site. (Turn to cam) There are all kinds of cool experiments that deal with the four forces of flight.

(P.J.) What experiment did you find?

(K) It’s supposed to demonstrate the Bernoulli’s Principle.

I’m going to blow air between these two balloons.

(J) What happens?

(K) The balloons are coming together.

(B I wonder what’s causing it to do that?

(P.J.) I think it has something to do with airflow.

Remember what we learned from NASA Researcher Luther Jenkins. That faster moving air creates less force. Air pressure changes with speed.

(B) So blowing between the two balloons made the air flowing between them speed up. This reduced the air pressure in the middle of the balloons.

(J) The reduced air pressure in between the balloons allows the air pressure on the outside of the balloon to push the balloons inward toward each other.

( KSNN)

Good Afternoon, I’m Ted Tune. Enthusiasm is building for the egg tra ordinary plane contest.

Here is a little note in history?

Did you know that some of our founding fathers in aviation competed for big cash prizes.

That’s all for now. I’m Ted Tune.

( Back to kids)

(J) I learned about that at the national air and space museum.

(B) Why don’t we talk to one of those pioneers.

(P.J.) Wouldn’t it be great to talk to one of the contestants who were involved in a real life challenging flight?

(K) Let’s look on the Internet to research a list of those aviation pioneers

Here is a name, Mr Burt Rutan from Scaled Composites in Southern California.

Let1s dial him up.

( Screen Unveils.)

Hello, Mr. Rutan, we are the tree house detectives and we heard you are involved in a

challenging flight.

Mr. Rutan, can you tell us about some of your most unique airplane designs?

(Burt) I think three of my most unique airplane designs so far are the Long-EZ, the Voyager, and the

Proteus. The Long-EZ is a high-performance two seat plane designed to be built by individuals —

there are some 2000 of these flying all over the world, most of them built by people at home in

their garages. The Voyager was the first (and so far, the only) airplane to fly around the world nonstop and non-refueled. Finally, the Proteus is one of my latest designs. It’s able to fly above 60,000 feet and carry atmospheric sensors,communications equipment, or other payloads for

flights of longer than 12 hours at a time. It can also carry a small rocket and launch it into

space from this high altitude.

Do you have to use your imagination when you’re building designing an airplane?

Absolutely. I always challenge myself to think about unique and revolutionary ways to approach

the design of a new airplane. I might sketch up twenty different configurations that would work

and I let my imagination run free. The same goes for all aspects of airplane design, whether

its the structure and how we manufacture it, the systems and how the pilot operates them, or

the basic shape of the airplane, and its aerodynamics.

Can you show us the Proteus?

He shows the proteus and how it is designed.

As you know thrust is one of the four forces of flight. On the proteus thrust is provided by these two jet engines. With this particular plane you need _____ amount of thrust.

It was nice talking to you, Good-bye and good luck.

Segment 2

(Tree house.)

(J) I wonder if our plane has too much thrust What creates the thrust on this plane?

(B) I would say that the winding up of the rubber band creates thrust. The tighter I wind it, the more thrust it will have.

(P.J.) Let me try it.

(B) I wonder if we need to add more thrust to our plane.

(K) What if we have too much power for the plane?

(J) I think we have so many questions, we need to go talk to an expert.

(K) Who would know about this?

(P.J.) What about someone who flies a plane.

(B) Why don’t we talk to a pilot?

(K) That sounds likes a great idea.

(J) Let’s get up and go.

( Get Up and Go )

(Jacob) Wow this is a simulator.

This doesn't look like any simulator I've been in at the video arcade.

(pilot explains simulator )

(Jacob) I'm one of the tree house detectives and we are trying to win a contest. We’re trying to figure out the force of Thrust.

Can you help us?

( Pilot) I hope I can.

(Jacob) We've learned we need to know about thrust.

( Pilot) ( gives answer)

(Jacob)Why does our plane bank to the left?

( explains yaw)

(Jacob) Wow the airbus must really be heavy.

(Pilot) explains how much cargo and passengers can carry

(Jacob) Wow with all this weight, the airbus need a lot of thrust.

Tree House

(C )I wonder if there are any neat experiments that would actually demonstrate the force of thrust.

(M) I’ll contact the NASA Why Files Kids Club and ask our members if anyone has done an experiment with Thrust.

(turn to camera) I love the NASA Why Files Kids Club. It’s so great trying to solve our problems with other club members. It’s all about being on a team!

( P.J) I wonder if weight affects thrust?

( C ) That’s a great question. I hope one of our club members did an experiment with Thrust.

( M) Look, we have an E-mail from our NASA Why Files Kids Club in Boone North Carolina. That’s the state of the First Flight.

(Turn to camera) Remember the

Wright brothers made their first flight on Dec. 17 1903

(P.J) I went there, see my Daniel Boone hat. The town was named after Daniel Boone

He spent a lot of time exploring and trekking through the beautiful Appalachian Mountains.

Let’s click here.

(M) Hi, what experiment did you do on Thrust?

Hi, I’m Jennifer with Mrs. Susan Caton’s Class at Green
Valley School in Boone North Carolina.

(P.J.) What was your problem?

We wanted to know if weight affects Thrust?

( C ) What ‘s your hypothesis?

Our hypothesis is If enough weight is added to the balloon, then the thrust will not be able to lift the balloon.

To test our hypothesis, we did the following experiment.

Here is what you will need for the project: a balloon, a straw, a string, 20 paper clips, masking tape, a small cup (3 ounce size) scissors and a hole punch.

First, measure the distance from the ceiling to the floor. Add 15 centimeters to that measurement and cut a length of string for that amount.

Tape or tie the string to a spot on the ceiling. Thread the straw onto the string and stretch the string taut and tape it to the floor.

Take the cup and using a whole punch, punch three holes evenly spaced around the top of the cup.

Now cut three pieces of string 30 centimeters long. Tie one piece of string to each hole on the cup.

Blow the balloon up but don’t tie it off. Position the cut under the balloon and tape the other end of the strings to the balloon so that it looks like a hot air balloon with a basket under it.

Tape the balloon to the straw , lower it to the floor;

Count down and release.

Mark how high

The balloon rose on the string.

Measure and Record your data.

Blow the balloon up again , make sure it is the same size as before, but this time add

five papers clip to the basket.

Lower the balloon count down and release.

With each trial add five paper clips.

( P.J.)What happened to the height of the launch as you added weight?

Here is what we concluded from our data.

As we added more paper clips, our balloon didn’t shoot as high.

(M) What did this experiment tell you about thrust?

Take a close look at our data.

As we added more paper clips, our balloon lost a lot of power and it wasn’t able to shoot as high.

We concluded that the heavier the plane the more thrust you need.

( C ) Okay thanks for your help.

( M) We will ask Dr. D how vertical thrust relates to an airplane.

( group shot) Bye from the NASA Why Files Kids Club at Green Valley

Elementary School in Boone, North Carolina.

(P.J.) This is all starting to make sense. We learned that the airplanes engine causes thrust and thrust moves the plane forward.

( M) Wouldn’t you think if a plane is heavier it would need more thrust?

(C ) Look at our entry. If we have too much thrust,

It could break our plane in half.

( M) Dr. D’s neighbor works with a lot of fast planes. He is stationed aboard the

USS Theodore Roosevelt.

( C ) He said that maybe he could make special arrangements for us to come out and see his ship.

(M) This definitely should be our next stop. The USS Theodore Roosevelt

( Kids getting strapped into Cod Plane)

(M)This is going to be so cool. Can you believe we are actually flying to a ship?

(C) It’s hard to believe the USS Theodore Roosevelt is 80 miles off the coast of Virginia.

13. Can’t wait! It’s going to be some landing.

( Arrival on the Flight Deck)

(C) That was just an awesome landing.

( Turn to camera)

Can you believe we landed on a carrier while it was moving?

(M) I’m not sure if it was so awesome; my legs still won’t stop shaking.

( Walking around carrier)

(M) Wow, look at the size of this ship.

( C) It’s huge.

(M) But look at that short runway.

Hi, Welcome to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, I am Lt. John Oliveira and you must be the Tree House Detectives. I heard you were coming.

(C) Yes sir, we are the tree house detectives.

We’ve never seen such a big ship.

That it is! The Roosevelt is a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and it is sometimes called a "floating city at sea." When the ship is deployed there are about 5,000 sailors onboard, and we have everything on the ship to take care of all their needs.

(M) Everything?

Yes, pretty much everything. We have a hospital, a dental clinic, a gym, a video rental store, a TV Station, a "restaurant' that serves 18,000 meals a day, and even a small store to buy stuff like gee dunk.

( C) What's gee dunk?

That's snack food.

(M)All right! I could live here!

(C) What’s this area called?

This is the flight deck. It is 4 1/2 acres and over 3 football fields long. This is the area that we launch the planes from while we are at sea.

(M) You can launch planes off of this small runway? (Turn to Camera) He means we’re going to be launched off this runway.

Yes, we can, but we have to have a little help from our catapults.

(C) What are catapults?

Well, lets go down to V-2 division and meet Senior Chief Spinner who will tell you all about a catapult and how it helps to launch planes.

Children will walk through the hatch and meet ABECS Spinner.

(M) We need to learn more about the force of thrust. Can you tell us about your catapults and how they create thrust?

Chief S Sure, first let me explain what a catapult is. The catapult is a set of two cylinders which each contain a piston. (Graphic here of a piston in cylinder or if he has a model to show as he talks or maybe Wiley Coyote cartoon.) The piston is connected to a shuttle that is located above on the flight deck.

M Not a space shuttle? !!

Chief S No, the shuttle is a metal object that is connected to the airplane for launch.

K Oh I saw the sailors doing that right after we landed. But what makes the shuttle go so fast?

Chief S When we want to fire the catapult, steam is placed into the two cylinders and the steam pushes the pistons through the cylinders.

M I saw a movie about steam engines. Steam is really powerful stuff.

K Where do you get steam from on a ship?

Chief S On a carrier the steam comes from the ship’s power plant, which consists of two nuclear reactors.

M Nuclear reactors! Wow, they must produce major power!

K Wow, that has to be going really fast to launch a plane! How fast does it go?

Chief S A catapult can take a plane from zero to 160 mph in about 2 seconds.

K Now that is fast!

M Yeah and a lot of thrust!

(In hanger bay) ( Taking pictures)

( C) That’s really weird! It couldn’t be him!

( M)Who?

( C) I think I just took a picture of Dr. D?

(M) Look over there, Call Him!

(Both) Dr. D

(Dr.D) Huh?

(Dr.D) What are you guys doing here?

( C) Well, what are you doing here?

(Dr.D) Just doing a little research.

(C) So are we. On Thrust.

(M) And boy, have we learned a lot about thrust and how a catapult launches airplanes.

(Dr.D) What did you learn?

(C) We learned today, that the plane has to be going about 160 mph to get lift and the catapult helps the plane go that fast very quickly because of the short runway.

(M) Dr. D how does this compare to a regular airport runway.

Dr. D: An airport runway is 10,000 ft long, , but a carrier’s runway is 300 ft long. That means the ratio of a carrier runway to an airport runway would be 300 to 10-thousand. And if you did the math you would take 300 and divide it by 10 thousand and you would get 0.03 which is 3 percent. This means the carrier’s runways is only 3-percent of the size of the airport runway.

(C) But on a carrier the catapult provides immediate thrust for the plane to take off in that short distance.

Dr. D: One of Isaac Newton’s Law’s of Motion explains that in order to speed up something you need to apply a force to it

(C) That makes sense. I really have to push hard on the pedals of my bicycle if I want to go really fast quickly.

Dr. D: Very good. But what would happen if you were pulling a wagon with your kid sister in it.

( C )That would be a lot harder.

Dr. D: Isaac Newton also told us you need more force to accelerate more mass. In math this is called a direct relationship.

( C) Wow, math is everywhere

( M) So that means that if the plane is bigger, or has more fuel, or more cargo, then you need a greater thrust to get the plane to its takeoff speed by the end of the runway.

Dr. D: That’s right!

( C )Well if thrust makes the plane accelerate, does that mean that they don’t need Thrust once they are flying at a constant speed?

Dr. D: You still need thrust. Even when you are moving at a constant speed, because you still need to overcome drag.

( M )What’s drag?

Dr D: Well talk about that once we get back to land.

( C )We’re making progress. ( Looking at notes) We’ve learned about lift, and about keeping the plane stable.

( M )Yes, we learned about yaw and pitch.

Dr D: There is one more type of stability that you need to know about.

Watch this.

( C )Wow your paper airplane really did spin. I don’t think that we want our plane to do that

Dr D: That’s right. That’s called roll. What many planes will do to avoid roll is to have what’s called a dihedral angle. That means having the wings tip up like a V. (Need to visually see this) Let’s try it.

( M)That made a big difference.

Dr. D: When the plane starts to roll, the lift is greater on the wing that has been lowered. With greater lift, the other wing now has a decrease in lift. But they will balance out and become stable again as the lift pushes the wing back up. (Dr. D will show visually with a model or with graphics).

( C )Is that a problem for the pilot?

Dr. D: Actually you don’t want the F14 to be too stable, because if it’s too stable, then it’s not very maneuverable. It’s a trade off.

Dr D: that’s right, well It looks like your plane is getting ready to take off.

(C) Can’t wait to try out the catapult.

WHAT’S UP

Do they still need to investigate Drag?

Can they combine all that they’ve learned so far to make a plane fly faster and farther.

You can find out next time with the case of the challenging flight.

Segment 3

( Kid throws plane, it pitches and banks to the left)

(C) Something is wrong with the plane. Why does it fly down and turn to the left?

(P.J.) Maybe weight has something to do with it. We learned weight is the force opposite of lift.

(B) Let’s look at our Problem Board. What should we do next?

We know that the flow and air pressure affect lift and lift affects flight.

(C) We know that the size of the wing affects lift.

(P.J.) We need to know how gravity and weight affect flight. I think we need to see and expert.

(B) We need to go to NASA Langley. My mom told me they have an electronic classroom. She said we could talk directly to researchers at any one of the 10 NASA Centers.

( Entering NASA)

(Kali) This is so neat! This must be an electronic classroom.

(Bob) It certainly is. Hi. I’m Bob Starr .Can I help you?

(Jacob) We hear you can hook us up with any NASA Researcher.

(Bob) Yes I can. The Electronic classroom lets us do two —way audio and video communications over telephone lines.

(Jacob) I’ve been doing a little research and I found that NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California is where they use experimental planes to test the most futuristic ways to fly. It’s where nasa first flew the space shuttle before it went into space.

(Kali) That sounds risky too. This must be where they find out if the new designs are really going to work.

(Bob) I know a researcher who’s an expert on stability. I’ll contact him for you. His name is Al Bowers. Okay, I'll try to contact him for you."

(Al) Hello, my name is Al Bowers. I'm an aerospace engineer here at NASA Dryden. I understand you have some airplane questions."

(Jacob)Yeah, we have a lot of them. Could you tell us about weight, one of the 4 forces and how if affects flight?

(Al) One way that weight affects a plane is by how the weight is distributed. The weight of the airplane is distributed so that there is a "balance point." This balance point is called the "Center of Gravity."

(Kali)How does the center of gravity help you design planes?

( Al)I'm glad you asked. We use the center of gravity to determine where to place the wings on a plane. In most airplanes, the wings have to be just a little bit behind the center of gravity. That helps to keep the front end of the airplane pointed forward.

(Jacob)Our plane always flies to the right. Is there anyway we can do to fix the problem?

(Al)That's the purpose of the tail. The tail keeps the nose from dropping too low or pointing too high, and it also keeps the nose from slicing off to the left or right. Here, let me show you.. This is the F- 104 Starfighter and it is a traditional type aircraft. It has the Center of Gravity just in front of the lift produced by the wings and the tail is at the back end of the airplane. It is a very stable aircraft.

( Kali)Wow! What kind of plane is that next to you? I have never seen anything like that before. This is the X-29. First, I am sure you noticed that the wings are on backwards and the tail is on the front of the plane.

(Jacob)Backwards? And a tail in the front?

(Al)Yes, even backwards we can make it fly. We have the tail on the front like Burt Rutan's plane.

( Kali)How can it fly like that? Here, let me show you with this broomstick. A traditional airplane is stable with the center of gravity in front of the lift, like this. The broom stick wants to stay hanging down, if we move it, it swings back to the straight down position

But if we balance the broomstick on my palm, it's unstable, like this. So if you just did this on an airplane, it doesn't fly very well, like your egg crate airplane. But the technology we used in the X-29 was a VERY FAST computer. This computer can "feel" the instabilities in the airplane and compensate for it.

Going back to our broomstick, it's like you are moving your hand around trying to balance the broomstick on your hand (balancing the broomstick). The computer is like your hand correcting and compensating when the plane is unstable. That is how the X-29 was able to fly, even though it wasn't stable.

(Jacob)Wow that is really cool. I would never have thought a plane like that would have flown.

(Kali)I guess we need to find our center of gravity and make sure it is in front of the lift.

(Jacob)That should help it be more stable. Thanks Mr. Bowers

( Dr. D’s Lab)

(K) This plane is looking like a winner.

(P.J.) Especially now that we put the rudder on and we moved the wings back.

( Throws plane)

(K) It doesn’t pitch anymore.

( C )And it doesn’t bank anymore. But, I wonder if we are still missing something.

( P.J.)Dr. D, we still have some questions Do you think that you can help us?

Dr. D: Sure.

( C ) We learned on our trip on the aircraft carrier that a catapult on a ship can provide a great forward force, and that jet engines and propellers can also provide thrust.

( P.J.)We also learned that a large force is needed to accelerate a large jet aircraft.

( M)With the balloon experiment we learned that you need more thrust when you have more weight.

( P.J.)Wait a minute. In the balloon experiment, the balloon is like a rocket with the thrust pushing the balloon up, or giving it lift.

In an airplane the thrust is forward not upward. How can thrust give you lift on an airplane?

( C)I know. The thrust makes the plane increase its speed. When the plane goes fast, the wings push down a lot of air.

(M)According to the principle of action and reaction, as the wings push the air down, the air pushes the wing up, and gives the plane lift.

(Dr. D)Very good.

( C)You told us before, that thrust is needed even when the plane is travelling at a constant speed. Why is that? Does it have something to do with drag?

(Dr. D)Yes. Drag is what we call all of the forces that act on the aircraft in the backward direction. Let's try an experiment. Give this cart a push. What happens?

(P.J.)It looks like its not slowing down at all. But you didn't keep pushing it?

(Dr.D)I didn't have to. Isaac Newton explained that once something gets moving, it stays moving forwards in a straight line at a constant speed unless you apply a force to it. Watch this other cart.

(C )It slows down right away. There must be some force acting on it.

( Dr. D)That's right. Objects only slow down when a force acts on them in a direction that is opposite to their motion. But what could that force be?

( M )I think that it had a lot of friction. That's a force you get when two objects rub together.

(Dr. D)Very good.

(P.J.)Does an airplane experience friction?

(Dr.D)Airplanes experience a type of drag called air resistance, because of the air flowing over the wings and other parts of the body. Have you ever tried to drive your bicycle into the wind?

(C)Yes. It's really not very easy.

( Dr D )Then you have some experience with air resistance.

( P.J.)But you haven't answered our question yet about why you need thrust if the airplane is traveling at a constant speed.

(Dr.D)Hang on. We're getting there. What happens if there is a large thrust and a small drag? GRAPHIC HERE

(M )The plane will speed up, just like the jet on the catapult.

(Dr.D)What if the plane is already moving, and there is a small thrust and a large drag? GRAPHIC HERE

( C )Then I guess it would slow down, like when the plane lands on the carrier and is caught by the wire.

(p.j.)I get it now. If the thrust which is trying to speed it up is equal to the drag which is trying to slow it down, then it can't do either.

( M)It would have to go at a constant speed.

(Dr.D)*Excellent!!!

(C)*So if we can find a way to reduce air resistance, we've got it made.

(P.J.)*If we have less drag, and then we won't need as much thrust to
keep it moving at a constant speed.

(Dr.D_*You are really headed in the right direction now. You will also
want to reduce air resistance drag as well. To understand how to do this, it would be best to talk to an expert. Of course the bestexpert is nature.

( P.J)Nature? I wonder what it has to do with drag.

(Dr.D)I know someone who observes nature to understand drag and he can tell you all about it. His name is Ben Anders. He studies, fish, birds, and even insects.

(m)Sounds like our next stop!

( P.J.) Look over there,

That man looks like he’s studying the fish.

(M) Mr. Anders, we’re the tree house detectives, Dr. D says you might be able to help us.

(P.J.) We are trying to understand the force of Drag, Dr. D says you use insects and marine life to help you in your research.

(B.A) Yes, I do. When I look at these animals I see a very sleek and streamlined shape .

(P.J) Do you think that shape matters?

(B.A.) Yes, it matters because the wing shape reduces the drag while they are cruising through the water.

(M) Those fins look rather sharp and big. I don’t think I’d like to be near one.

(B.A.) When I’m looking at his fins, I see airplane wings?

(P.J.) AIRPLANE WINGS?!

(M)I guess I can see a slight comparison, But why would you want to compare them to an airplane wings?

(B.A.) Well, those sharks are just flying through the water. In fact, some birds have wings that look at lot like fins, so maybe that’s the way we should design airplane wings. At NASA Langley Research Center, we study how birds, insects and marine animals over come drag and this inspires new research on drag. This is called Biometics.

(M) That’s a big word how do you do that kind of research?

(B.A.) Let me ask you this, What type of surface on an airplane wing would decrease drag, a grooved one or a smooth one?

(M) I’m not sure, I would think a smooth surface would decrease drag. But, what’s the correct answer?

(B.A.) Normally a smooth surface does have lower drag, but if the grooves are very tiny and made just right, the grooved surface has lower drag. We discovered that the shark’s skin has these exact same tiny grooves to reduce his drag. I wonder what other secrets he has?

(P.J.) I wonder! What about birds? Do they help you with aircraft design? Do they do anything to reduce drag?

(B.A.) Some birds have feathers on their wing tips that they spread to reduce their drag. We will be testing wings like this soon in a wind tunnel at NASA to see if we can use this idea on real airplanes.

(M) This is so cool. I wonder if we need to make some adjustments to our plane to reduce the drag.

(P.J.) Maybe we need to do a little more research.

(M) Let’s go back to the tree house.

( Inside the tree house)

(M) Do you think our airplane looks like a shark?

(J) I don’t think so, but it’s so cool that Mr. Anders studies birds and sharks for his research on Drag.

(B) Remember The Wright Brothers they were inspired by the birds that they watched at Kitty Hawk.

( KSNN)

Good afternoon, I’m Ted Tune with the latest on the Egg tra ordinary Plane contest. We understand there could be a major upset.

We just learned the tree house detectives are building a one of a kind plane. The group is investigating the four forces of flight and they might have a chance at placing this time.

The countdown is on and there is only 1 day until the contest.

I’m Ted Tune with KSNN.

(Back to the Kids)

(J) Yeah, maybe we can place in this contest. Something other than last place. ( Turn to camera) Wouldn’t that be amazing?

(M) Let’s see what else we can do to our plane to win the contest? Let’s go to our Problem Board.

(K) We know air pressure affects lift and lift is one of the main forces of flight.

(B) We also know that airplanes must overcome the pull of gravity.

(M) We know thrust drives a plane through the air and different types of planes require a different type of thrust.

(J) We know drag is the opposite of thrust. Drag is the Aircraft’s resistance to the movement through the air.

(K) We need to know if certain materials that are used to manufacture a plane can affect drag.

(B) How can we find out?

(M) Let’s do a little research on the Internet.

(J) I’ll just type in NASA Langley, I know they do a lot of research on planes.

(B) Look they have a program called Structures and Materials.

(K) Let’s go over there. I’ll E-mail our parents and the other tree house detectives to let them know where we’re going.

(Entering lab)

(Jacob) What are you doing?

(Anna) I’m playing with materials

(Kali) We need to learn how weight affects flight.

(Anna) Thrust is opposite to Drag. And you know that Lift is what makes the airplane go up. Well, weight and the pull of gravity brings the airplane down.

(Kali) Yes we just learned about that.

(Anna ) For the airplane to fly, Lift must be greater than the airplanes weight. And the lighter the airplane is - the easier it is to lift the airplane.

(Jacob) For the same size wings, a lighter airplane will lift easier

Anna That’s right! And there’s another benefit to having a lighter airplane.

(Kali) There is?

(Anna) Sure. With the same amount of thrust, the airplane goes farther if it’s lighter. For example, if you push two different people on a set of swings with the same amount of force - which one will go farther, the lighter person or the heavier person?

(Kali) The lighter person will go farther.

(Anna ) Exactly. So with the same thrust or engine on the airplane a lighter airplane can go farther. Aeronautical engineers say the airplane has greater RANGE or MAXIMUM FLIGHT DISTANCE.

(Jacob) Cool!

Anna Lighter airplanes also use less gasoline — so they are better for the environment too.

(Kali) What research do you do at NASA to make planes lighter?

(Anna explains and hands them composite materials.) We are figuring out how to make materials that airplanes are made out of, a lot lighter. Most airplanes today are made from metal — which is really strong, but it’s also heavy. We are making new materials called composite materials which are also strong but they are much lighter. Here, can you help me with this piece of composite airplane material?

(Jacob) Oh I don’t know if I want to hold it. It looks too heavy. Wow that’s really light

(Anna) Yes, composite materials are really light and are already being used on some military airplanes because they are so lightweight and strong. We are also researching some really interesting materials that can move up and down or bend and twist.

(Kali) What’s that

(Anna) smart materials

(Jacob) Smart Materials! I’m a smart material

(Anna) You sure are. Smart materials like this one will move when activated. This one is called nitinol and if you bend it up — it will spring back to being flat when it’s heated up. Here, can you bend this up?

Kids Sure (bends and twist the wire)

Anna (using a lighter) Now, when I heat it up it will spring back to being flat

(Jacob) wow! How can you use that in airplanes?

Anna These materials can be used to bend and twist airplane wings and simulate pop-up feathers to mimic how birds fly.

(Kali) Why would you want smart materials to mimic a bird’s flight?

Anna) Good question. For their size, birds are really good flyers. W e are hoping that if our smaller airplanes could fly more like birds by spreading small feathers and bending and twisting their wings in flight — they would be better flyers.

(Jacob) I don’t think we could buy smart materials. But, we might think about switching to a lighter material. Maybe we should try a foam carton

(Kali) Are you saying that we might have a new hypothesis?

(Jacob)Yes. Our new hypothesis would be if we decrease the weight of the material of the egg carton, then it might fly farther.

(Kali) Yes, now we need to test it. ( Turn to camera) Or Experiment.

(Jacob) Okay, let’s go back to the tree house.

( Tree house)

(P.J.) Look I went and bought some foam egg cartons.

(C) Let’s find its mass.

First I’ll find the mass of the paper egg carton.

Its 56.8 grams. Now lets find the mass of the foam carton.

(P.J.) Wow, that’s a little lighter. Its only 12.2 grams that would make it 44 .6 grams less that the other one.

( M) Remember what we learned. Lighter materials will help reduce the weight of the plane and will decrease the amount of thrust needed for lift. And less weight will also decrease the drag. ( needs go be out

( P.J) Wow! That should make our plane fly farther! Let’s build a new plane out of a foam carton.

( fast speed)

( C ) Okay, let’s throw it.

(Ends with plane in mid-flight.)

What’s Up?

Will the change in material to the foam egg carton help the plane fly further?

What’s the most important force of flight?

What will help the tree house detectives win the contest?

Don’t miss the conclusion of the Case of The Challenging Flight.

Segment 4

(Opening Scene —plane in mid flight , landing.)

(P.J) That’s the best flight we’ve had so far.

(B ) It’s great. ( turn to camera) Do you think changing to a lighter weight material made a difference?

( C ) Maybe the foam carton made a difference.

( B) I think we still need to know more.

Let’s go to the Problem Board.

(P.J) We know that Lift, Weight, Thrust and Drag are the main forces of flight.

(B) Yeah, but we also learned about yaw, roll and pitch.

(C ) We need to know how all the forces work together to make a really fast plane.

(P.J.) We need to talk to another pilot.

( B) My neighbor is a Young Eagle flight leader. (turn to cam) If you want to find out where a Young Eagles group is near you, just visit the Why Files Web site.

(B.)It’s so cool. Every year the Young Eagles program gives thousands of kids like us hands-on experience, flying a plane. It’s sponsored by EAA, an international organization, so kids all over the world get to participate. They want to fly one million kids by 2003, the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight.

(P.J.) No way, a real plane.

This is so cool. I’ll go I’ve always wanted to fly a plane.

(standing in front of wing)

(P.J.) This doesn’t look like our wings, what’s that?

(Pilot) The plane’s wings have two movable parts; the part near the wingtip is called the aileron and the inboard part is the flap.

(P.J.) What’s an aileron?

(Linda) The pilot moves the ailerons to make the plane turn; one aileron goes down and the other side goes up. The down aileron causes that wing to rise; the up aileron on the other wing makes it go down and the plane turns in the direction of the low wing.

(P.J.) Then what happens with the flaps?

(pilot) The flaps are used to increase the angel that the plane descends as it comes in for a landing

(P.J.) We just put a rudder on our plane. It helps stabilize the plane. These look like they move. What do they do?

(Linda)This is the elevator it makes the airplane go up and down. If the pilot pulls back on the yoke, the elevator goes up and the plane climbs. If the pilot pushes forward on the yoke, the plane descends

(P.J.)During take off, are all four forces of flight being used?

(Linda)Well, gravity and drag are always with us; so on take off we have to create enough thrust and lift to overcome the gravity and drag. We create the thrust by pushing the throttle in for maximum engine power; we get the lift from pulling back on the elevator control to get the airplane to climb.

( Linda) The best way to find out how all these work is to go up in the air. And Guess what?

(P.J.) Even if it’s foggy or dark outside?

(Linda)Yes, the pilot will look at a screen and be able to see if there are mountains ahead.

(P.J.) Like a video game?

(Pilot) Almost. Synthetic Vision uses satellite signals and global position systems to give the pilot a very sophisticated map . This will definitely help prevent a lot of crashes in the future.

(P.J.) Cool

May be. Synthetic Vision will be in every plane by the time I become a pilot.This is something I’ll always remember. I can’t believe I flew a plane.

( At the contest)

( C) Look there’s Dr. D. He made it!

(P.J.) Hi Dr. D. I think we are ready for the competition.

Dr. D: Tell me what helped you prepare your plane for the competition.

(J) Well, we learned that in order to have lift we needed to have the front edge of our wing a little higher than the back edge.

(K) That made a big improvement over last year’s plane.

(B) Then we needed to adjust the position of the wing so that the center of gravity was a little ahead of the center of lift. Before we had the wing too far forward and we moved it back. When it is positioned correctly this helps the plane have pitch stability, which means its nose has better control.

(M) We have a nice rudder on the plane now. This rudder helps the plane have yaw stability, which means that it’s easier to control the movement from right to left .

( C )Don’t forget the roll problem we corrected with the dihedral angle.

(B) That’s right. Bending wings into that "V" shape made a big improvement. It doesn’t spin because the dihedral provides more lift on the wing that drops down.

(J) We learned that Thrust is required even when the plane is moving at a constant speed, so we wound the rubber band as many times as we could, so that the thrust would last as long as possible. We did some research on how many times we could wind it without breaking it.

(K) In order to avoid as much drag as possible, we made sure that there were not any ragged edges.

(P.J.) Yes and we used larger wings than we did last year, because that gave us more lift.

(C ) We kept the weight to a minimum, because we know that the more weight it has, the more lift we need and the more thrust we need to keep it going.

Dr. D: You have learned so much, and improved your plane a lot, it’s a wonder that it even flew at all last year.

( B) We are so excited. We think that we are going to win.

Dr. D: But even if you don’t win, just think about all that you have learned about how airplanes fly.

( B ) TURN TO CAMERA Yes, but winning is nice

( The Contest)

(Kids walk past cheerleaders)

( K ) This is exciting. Today just might be our day!

( J) Yes, we worked hard as a team. Who knows? We just might win this contest.

(BERNIE) Welcome Young Aviators! Welcome to the Great Egg tra ordinary Airplane Contest. We have Mr. Dan Lockes class , the Barron Knights, on this side

(Cheering)

(Announcer) And we have Mr. John Livingston’s class the Smith Seagulls on this side.

These are the contest rules. The distance is measured from the place the plane is launched to where it lands. The top two teams will move on to the finals.

Team Members advance to the launching pad.

( C) " I’m getting a little nervous." We have to win this trial and then we will advance to the next level.

( M) Here we go.

Show kids launching planes from each team.

(B) We made it!

( J) Oh no, look whom we are up against.

( P.J.) That team is tough. But, we might be able to beat them.

( B) Let’s try.

(Plane Launches.)

(Announcer.) This might be a tie. It looks close. We are so close!

(Announcer.) Give me the meter stick please. It appears to be a very close contest.

(Groans.)

But, it appears the tree house team has won by only 4centimeters.

( Kids screaming)

(B) I can’t believe we won!

( J) (Turn to camera) We won by four centimeters that’s like the size of my pinky or 1 and a half inches.

( Bernie) Will the tree house detective team come up here to accept their trophies? This is so cool.

Cheering

( cut to Ksnn) I’m I.M. Lissning live at the Egg tra ordinary Airplane Contest. A huge upset this time. The known underdog, the tree house detectives Had an egg stra ordinary plane and won the contest. So how did you do it?

( B ) We used a lot of Science as Inquiry. This definitely helped us learn about the four forces of flight.

(M) And we used this . Our research notebook. We kept a lot of data and notes on our experiments.

( B) And it worked. We are finally winners. Maybe one day I’ll be a winner. That’s all for now from KSNN.

CUT TO BEHIND THE SCENES

Shots of Jackie Chan singing and with Achievable dreams kids.

CREDIT ROLL