GOAL

To learn about the physics of flight and test different aircraft designs

Aerodynamics

Airplane Design & Optimization

2025-08-18_v1.0

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Breakout Development Team

JOANNA CAUDLE

College: Georgia Institute of Technology

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Industry Experience: Bechtel Power Corporation

EDGAR MARTINEZ

College: Columbia University

Major: Civil Engineering, B.S.

Industry Experience: Skanska USA Underpinning and Foundation; John P. Picone Inc.

JAMES VENDITTO

College: University of Notre Dame ‘22

Major: Electrical Engineering

JULIAN CENTENO

College: SUNY Polytechnic Institute ‘23

Major: Mechanical Engineering Technology

MUNA DAUD

College: George Washington ‘21

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Original Team

BETSY FORTMAN

College: Purdue University

Major: Aerospace Engineering & MBA

Industry Experience: NASA, Sophic Synergistics

CONNOR FRATANTARO

College: Bucknell University ‘25

Major: Mechanical Engineering

SARAH McCLELLAND

College: Bucknell University ‘26

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Breakout Redevelopment Team

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Have you ever wondered...

• How a plane stays in the air?
• Why airplanes are designed in certain ways, including shape, material, or size?
• How to build the greatest paper airplane you can?!

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ANSWER ME!

Planes fly because of the balance of four forces. In your own words, how does each force (thrust, lift, drag, gravity) affect the plane?

Type your answer here.

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How Do Planes Stay

in the Air?

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Let’s Review the Main Points from the Video:

WEIGHT

is a result of the force of gravity.

THRUST

is generated by the airplane engines.

DRAG AND LIFT

are caused by the movement of the air around the plane.

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ANSWER ME!

What are the pros and cons of using paper in the design of your model airplane?

PROS:

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Type your answer here.

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Design Considerations: Weight

Less weight on the plane means:

• less lift is needed to stay airborne
• less fuel is needed
• less energy is needed to accelerate

Lighter materials mean:

• a less durable design

Planes are made from lightweight metals and other advanced materials such as:

• aluminum
• titanium
• carbon fiber

REAL WORLD SOLUTION!

CONS:

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Type your answer here

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ANSWER ME!

What causes the thrust in a paper airplane?

Type your answer here.

Design Considerations: Thrust

Thrust pushes the plane forward

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Air moves over the wing, causing lift

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Engines provide constant thrust

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Drag continuously acts against thrust

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Design Considerations: Drag

Air flows over surfaces because it is a fluid.

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Air flows over certain shapes more easily than others.

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• Smooth and long, thin shapes allow air to pass easily, meaning less drag.
• Large, boxy shapes are less aerodynamic, meaning there is more drag

AIRFLOW OVER A WING

ANSWER ME!

Which of the planes below experiences less drag, and therefore flies faster?

Drag the correct plane here

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Design Considerations: Lift

• No Air → No Lift
• No Flow → No Lift
• No Movement of Wing → No Lift

SCENARIO #1

Change in air momentum downward

has equal and opposite force upward … lift on a wing

SCENARIO #2

No change in momentum, so no

vertical force … no lift

SCENARIO #3

Change in air momentum upward has equal and opposite force downward …

a curveball!

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ANSWER ME!

Observe the paper’s behavior. How did the paper act? Why? Did you expect this?

Type your answer here.

Try it Yourself!

1. Take out a piece of paper.

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• Hold the piece of paper by the two corners on the shorter side, and have that end be parallel to the ground.

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• Bring the piece of paper to just below your lips and blow straight forward.

More information at: https://www.wired.com/story/bernoulli-demonstrations/

LIFT IN ACTION

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Maximizing Lift

Here are some designs to consider:

IMPROVE LIFT WITH THESE CONSIDERATIONS:

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• Should be going fast: strong throw or powerful engine
• Thin, smooth wings
• Large surface area on the wings increases lift
• Sharp or smooth shapes
• Caution: Large wing profile also increases drag

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Design Considerations:

Test Conditions

CONSIDER:

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• Should you throw your plane indoors or outdoors? How will wind affect the different flight trials?

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• At what height will you throw your paper airplane? If you start lower to the ground, will the airplane fly as far as if you start from higher up?

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• Do you want to throw your airplane with its nose facing more towards the ground or towards the ceiling? This is called your plane’s angle of attack, with 0° meaning the nose of your plane points directly ahead of you.

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• Will you lightly toss your plane or throw it as hard as you can?

Your testing conditions should be as controlled as possible so that the only thing you’re changing is the type of paper airplane you’re throwing.

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How Does My Plane Move ?

Plane rotation along the three axes will cause:

• ROLL
• YAW
• PITCH

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Surfaces on your plane can control these rotations.

Control Surfaces on a paper plane

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Surfaces on Your Paper Airplane

• The size of your modifications will impact the effect!

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• Try making small cuts/edits, then editing as you go!

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Control Surfaces

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Think

Pretend you are a team of aerospace engineers building an airplane. How would you use the Engineering Design Process to design and build an aircraft?

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The following slides will walk you through the design process to design, build, and test your own paper airplane!

Click HERE for

more information on the Engineering Design Process!

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What is the Goal

of Your Plane?

Engineering is all about trade-offs, because it’s impossible to make something that is perfect at everything. We’ve learned about ways to maximize or minimize the four forces on a plane to our advantage, and now we will put it to use.

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YOU WILL NOW WORK ON DESIGNING YOUR PLANE.

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Choose one of the goals below that you want your airplane to accomplish:

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• Stays in the Air the Longest
• Flies the Farthest

Is your plane a sleek, fast passenger liner?

Or a heavy-duty cargo hauler?

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Answer Me! Considering your design goal, what characteristics would your plane need? How do the forces discussed above play a part in those characteristics?

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Answer Me! Draw or upload a picture of your final plane design here!

Step One: Identify the Problem

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My flight goal is maximizing ____Time in the Air _____ Fly the Farthest

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Step Two: Research

Pick three of the designs on the website that you want to build.

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1. Focus on achieving one of or both of your goals - maximizing time in the air or maximizing distance.
2. Take note of why a particular design choice (wing shape, tails or no tail, nose shape) was used.
3. Repeatedly throw your plane in an open area and use the charts on the next slide to record either distance or time.
4. Observe any other notable behaviors from the plane (arcs to one side, goes straight up, etc.) and discuss with your teammates

Each student will start by constructing and

testing 3 models of airplane designs from:

Fold N’ Fly, Paper Plane Playlist

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ANSWER ME! Test each of your designs twice.

Step Two: Research

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Paper Airplane Demo Video

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Step Three: Design Your Group’s Solution

ANSWER ME! Using what you have observed, create a sketch of the airplane you and your group intend to design.

Draw your design here

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Step Four: Build Your Plane

You will now construct the plane your group has designed.

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1. Use the features you have noted from your prototypes to create a plane that maximizes distance, time, or both.
2. In the next step you will take many trials of the plane to determine if you have created a plane that meets the goal you chose.
3. If your plane is not accomplishing your goal, return to the previous step and design a new plane.

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Lab Materials

Step Five: Test Your Plane & Record Your Results

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Insert Here

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Step Six: Adjusting Center Of Gravity

PAPERCLIPS

• Take up to three paper clips, and add them to the places on your airplane where you think it will help flight time or distance
• Test your paper clip locations - is the flight better or worse than before?
• Move the paperclips around the plane and test again
• Try to guess why adding weight to different places on the plane affects the flight
• Tip: Some airplane designs do best without any paper clip additions
• Look up “airplane center of gravity” to better understand where to place the paper clips

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAPER

• You will need: loose leaf paper, white printer paper, and construction paper
• Fold the same model of airplane using the three different types of paper
• Test each model - which flies the farthest?
• Think about how the total weight of each airplane affects flight time and distance
• Material affects flight duration - the center of gravity for each plane will be the same, but the total weight for each will be different

Step 7: Adjust the Center of Mass/Center of Gravity

Record Your Results Using Various Paperclips or Different Paper to Your Design

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Insert Here

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Step 8: Adjust Your Design for Motorized Flight

Unlike throwing your plane, the electric motor will provide continuous thrust to your plane.

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Modify your design or build a new plane design so that you can attach the Power Up 2.0 motor.

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HINT! The motor adds weight to your airplane. The motor is heaviest at the front, which will shift the center of gravity of the plane. How will you adapt your design to help balance this out

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Ask your instructor to attach the PowerUp to your paper airplane!

Folding Tutorials

Only use designs for the PowerUp 2.0!

Step 9: Record Your Motorized Results

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Step 10: Reflect on Design Choices

ANSWER ME! What changes did you make to your design to your design to fit the Power Up 2.0? Did the added weight of the motor change your design? Why or why not?

Draw your design here

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ANSWER ME!

Which control surfaces (wing design, rudders, elevators, etc..) best helped your plane fly?

Record Your Data

Type your answer here

Did your plane fly straight? Why or why not?

Type your answer here

How long did your plane fly?

________ Seconds

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Reflection Questions

ANSWER ME!

Complete the mandatory 5-minute Exit Ticket by clicking here!

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Continue to Explore

IF YOU LIKED TODAY’S BREAKOUT, YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THESE TOPICS:

• Aircraft Design
• Spacecraft Design
• Fluid Mechanics
• Helicopter Design
• Jet Engines vs. Propellers

ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES RELEVANT TO TODAY’S AERODYNAMICS BREAKOUT:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Aircraft Architecture
• Mechatronics

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Additional Resources to Explore

ADDITIONAL LINK:

Design Planes and Flight Simulator

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER

THE FUTURE OF AEROSPACE

COOL AIRPLANES

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Further Resources and Extension Activities

This section will provide an overview of the extension and optional. These activities are opportunities for students to dive deeper and ideate. The materials associated with the extension labs may not provide as many detailed instructions as the main lab activity.

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Further Extension Activities

Any text here?

Launcher

Relay

Extension #1:

Launcher

Creating an Accurate and

Precise Vehicle Launcher

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YOUR GOAL: Create a precise and accurate airplane launcher

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Vehicle Launcher Design

How can I ensure that the plane has the same thrust with each takeoff?

What materials should I use for my design?

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

How can I ensure that my launcher won’t break after only a couple of uses?

Rubber band here

INSPIRATION PICTURES

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Design Examples

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Testing Setup

Place your target on a nearby table (or the ground) so that you can keep track of the landing sites of each of your trials

Make sure you are launching from the same height and position

TIP: It may be useful to have a table for your launch mechanism, or to anchor it down somehow

Have a pencil, pen, or sticky notes handy so you can visibly mark your multiple launches and asses them later for accuracy and precision

Put your marker at where the tip of the airplane lands

Run 5 flight trials from your launcher

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Recording Launcher Data

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Launcher Reflection Questions

ANSWER ME!

GOAL

To test out flight conditions and consistency

in airplane design

Extension #2

Airplane Relay Race

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Relay Race Instructions

YOUR GOAL

Have your team score the most points with consistent, good airplane design! �

• NOTE: If you have a launch system for the plane, all of the students can use this as well.

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You may need to augment the challenge to account for table height and launch distance.

4’x4’�TABLE

6FT

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Print This Target Twice to Use for Each Team!

Cut along the dotted lines and then tape the two halves together to create your target.

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Scoring

Score will be determined based on where the tip of the airplane lands.

SCORING CHART

BULLSEYE:

DARK PURPLE:

BLUE:

PURPLE:

WHITE:

7 PTS

4 PTS

3 PTS

2 PTS

1 PTS

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Race Setup

• Place each of the tables in a row with about 2 feet in between them.
• Center the targets on each of the tables. It may be a good idea to tape them down so that they don’t move in between throws.
• Teams of students will line up behind the starting points.
• Teams will relay race (throw) their airplanes over the course of 2 minutes to see which team has the most planes remaining on the table and which team has the highest score.
• Your teammate may not step up to the throwing line until the person in front of them has returned to the back of their line after their throw.
• It will be helpful to make multiple models of the same design so the teams don’t run out of airplanes to throw.

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Reflection Questions

ANSWER ME!

Thank you!