Aviation
The Aviation IP is an interest project from the Girl Scouts of Northern California Council.
Do eight of the fifteen, including at least one from each of parts A to E.
Part A - History of Aviation[]
- Learn about the ways in which aviation has influenced history and the way we live today. List a number of these ways, then compare lists with others. Do you find that your lists are mostly alike, or have you found a wide range of influences? Were some of these influences bad or undesirable?
- Study a person, aircraft, place, or event that was important in the history of fight. Use a scale model, art of your own creation, video clips or computer graphics, text, or whatever techniques you enjoy, to present your subject in public. Try to make it both informative and interesting to others. Possible places to display your work might include a public library, school, hobby shop, or scale modeler’s society meeting or competition.
- Learn the stories of three women who have had a significant place in the history of aviation, and be able to tell how they influenced history.
- Your first experience with flying was probably riding an airliner. Make a list of eight or more other activities of businesses that involve flying, at least four of which should involve the smaller aircraft of the General Aviation fleet.
Part B - The Science of Flight[]
- Learn about the different categories of aircraft, such as airplane, glider, helicopter, airship (blimp) and balloon. Learn some ways in which each of these is used. Learn what keeps each of them in flight and (for at least one category) the names of the major parts and controls, and how the controls operate.
- Visit a facility, such as a NASA laboratory or a university, where research is done either into improving the technology of flight, or using aircraft as tools to study astronomy, the atmosphere, the earth, or other subjects. Tell others of what your learn, in a paper or extra credit presentation for school, a group discussion, or a display as suggested in PART 2, above. Try to show how things might be different in the future as a result of the research work you have seen.
- People have always been interested in the weather, but it was the needs of aviation for accurate and detailed information about how the weather would affect a flight that made the creation of the Weather Service essential. Learn how such weather conditions as clouds, fog, humidity, wind (both surface and aloft), thunderstorms, and warm or cold fronts affects an imaginary flight plan you are preparing.
- The human body works just fine as long as you are walking about on the ground, but has limitations that can be problems in flight. Learn about these or other problems in aviation physiology:
- As the pressure of the atmosphere decreases with altitude, it may cause problems of hypoxia or oxygen deficiency. (Have you ever experienced this in the mountains?)
- Military pilots may feel forces on their bodies much different from the normal pull of gravity. It’s fun to experience this on a roller coaster, but what kind of problems do high or low G-forces cause, and how are they solved?
- Parts of the inner ear help you keep your balance and directions, but may be fooled by sensations of flight. Learn how this happens, and tell how you may have experienced it. Explain or demonstrate vertigo, which is an extreme case of the senses getting confused by what you are seeing and feeling. How does a pilot use an aircraft’s instruments in place of some of her own senses at night or within clouds?
PART C - Getting Around in the Air[]
- Visit an airport control tower or other traffic facility. Learn how the controllers use radar, radio, and their own visual observation to assure safety of aircraft under their control and how their facility works with other parts of the air traffic control system. Listen to the radio communications until you can recognize and understand a simple air-to-ground exchange, identifying the aircraft involved.
- There are no street signs or highway numbers in the sky. So how do you find your way, especially when clouds block your view of the ground? Learn about navigation radio equipment such as VOR, ILS, LORAN, and GPS, and the other instruments in the aircraft that help the pilot solve this “Airborne Orienteering” problem. Study an aviation Sectional Chart, and learn how it differs from maps you have seen before. Learn to interpret some of the markings, and identify cities, airports, radio navigation facilities, and mountain peaks or other high terrain. Plot a course between two airports, measure the distance, and calculate your flight time for an imaginary trip. (If you do this before doing activities 9 or 15, what you see then may make much more sense to you.)
- Visit a Fixed-Base Operator’s facility or a flight training or research center where flight simulators are used. Learn how they are used, and what the requirements are for a good simulator. Learn from a flight instructor or experienced pilot how simulator programs available for use on home computers differ from those in training centers, what their limitations are, and how they could be used in learning to fly. Then use a PC-based or training simulator to practice some flight maneuvers until you can do them well.
Part D - Careers and Community Service in Aviation[]
- Careers in aviation range all the way from airline captain or military fighter pilot to food service or reservations clerk. Research one that you find interesting. Talk to someone in the field if possible. Learn what education, physical abilities, etc. are required. List advantages and disadvantages of the job. After learning more about it, would you like to enter this career?
- Learn about the work of one the volunteer service organizations involving aviation, such as Flying Doctors, Angel Flight, Civil Air Patrol, or The Environmental Air Force. How could you contribute to the group, now?
- The Private Pilot license is what most people earn to begin flying. What do you need to do to get your license? What would it cost? How long does it take?
Part E - Putting It All Together[]
- While taking a flying trip, an airport, or talking to a pilot, notice how group and flight crews use some of the things you have learned about to assure a safe and efficient flight. You may be able to notice the numbers and occupations of people in the ground and flight crews (activity 12), watch how the movements of the control surfaces affect flight (5), listen in on air-to-ground communications and notice the aircraft being routed after takeoff and before landing (9,10), try to compare the “feel” of the ride and unexpected changes in route or schedule with the weather conditions (7), and perhaps get a look at the pilots’ instruments and controls (5,10).
See also[]
Take Flight IP World of Flight IP List of Council's Own Interest Projects
External Links[]
Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County Older Girl IPPs Aviation Interest Project and Resources