Blog 17: Third Answer

EQ: What is the best way to decrease drag and increase fuel economy in aircraft?

Answer 3: The best way to improve fuel economy while decreasing drag is through the implementation and use of geared turbofan engines.

Three Details:
The research source (s) to support your details and answer
Concluding Sentence

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?

     Over the break I began searching for possible designs and airfoil shapes for the aircraft I hope to construct for my independent component. I also began to get a list of the materials I will need, aswell as the tools I will need.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?

    I learned the basics of RC plane design, like my first interviewee suggested I do, and this was pretty important because an RC craft reacts and performs similar to large scale craft, minus the heavy loads and heavy thrust. I learned most of what I did from a website called Stormthecastle.com.

3. If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

    If I could, I would like to interview my first interviewee again because he is the most heavily involved in aircraft design and works with a lot of innovative designs and technology so he would probably have a better idea of things that can provide increased fuel-efficiency. 

Blog 10: EQ

1. Review this. Confirm by stating "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

Essential Question
Once a topic is chosen, the student will develop a working essential question. The purpose of the working essential question is to help the student build a strong foundation of research which will allow him or her to create an essential question that encourages depth and rigor in the chosen topic. An essential question must:

Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question)
Take a stance (It allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)
Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ. 

2. Review the following EQs and

Tell us if each meets the rule of three.
Tell why they do or don't.
a. What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?

• Yes because it requires thorough research to determine the most important factor, and that factor is not the same for everyone, so it requires you to take a stance. Its wording also is very specific, not just being healthy or losing weight but losing weight healthily. 

b. What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

• No because it is asking for what is the most important which means it will most likely just be facts about most used information in securing a conviction.

c. What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?

• No because, like the last, it wants to what is the most important in creating a hairstyle which is not very clear, the most important what? It also implies an easily obtainable answer, that probably can't take a stance with.

d. How can an anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?

• No because this is something that does not really allow you to take a stance, it either is or is not the best way to treat the pain. 

3. Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project. The senior team will be meeting with students shortly for EQ revision and approval; you are expected to bring your research notebook to that meeting with your EQ draft written inside in pencil.

• How can one best change the basic design of an aircraft to improve fuel-efficiency by reducing drag and weight?

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1. What is your working EQ? 

What is the best way to alter the structure of an aircraft to reduce drag and improve fuel-efficiency?

2. What is a possible answer to your working EQ? 

By implementing blended wing body, an aircraft is able to produce lift across the whole structure reducing drag and weight factors allowing for improved fuel-efficiency.

3. What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ?

My most important source so far has been "Fundamentals of Aerodynamics" from the Naval Aviations School Command because it introduced me to several physics concepts that affect an aircraft's flight performance and allowed me to better understand why structural changes, like they blended wing body, affect the craft's fuel efficiency.

4. Who is your mentor and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?

I currently do not have a mentor anymore, but am looking hard to find a new one. 

Blog 5 - Mentorship Reflection

1. Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship? If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

     Well, I have basically found a mentor, but am still going to continue searching for one. I have not logged any hours outside of summer, however, so I have been searching. My experience in looking for one has kind of been awkward. One JPL engineer I had called and emailed talked to me up to the point where he wanted my academic resume, I sent it and never heard from him again. This kind of thing has happened a few times and is kind of frustrating, but understandable. My mom has been a big help in this because she has made so many contacts over the years. Her friend's have put me into contact with the NASA site I did my summer mentorship at and have given me a few leads as of late.

2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

I think the most important article I read so far was one titled "Atmospheric Flight" straight from the NASA website. This article basically introduced me to the basics of airplane and airplane design. It gave me the information I needed to root my essential question in fuel conservation because it introduced me to the concepts of drag, and how it effects an aircraft. My core understanding of lift and how wings make planes flyable also came mostly from reading this article all the way through. Ultimately, it just gave the basic information I needed to understand aerospace engineering a little deeper.

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Working EQ

1. List Your Topic:

Aerospace Engineering


2. What is the most effective means of designing an aerodynamic aircraft? (Not sure this is exactly where I want to go, but it is a start.)


3. Working Bibliography on the right.