Texada Seniors Aerospace Camp 2013
Introductions were the first order of the day with the main coordinator, Doby Dobrostanski, calling on Peter Teuner, Dale Rinehart and Angela Sargent to start the day’s events which were many and varied.
Doby goes on to say the purpose of the program is to inform the audience of the connection of aviation and the human condition or perhaps more simply, mind over matter. Explaining the advances of technology of man’s machines from before the first “Sputnik” that left earth one Oct. day in 1957 to today.
The goal, to inspire thoughts of reflecting on past achievements and encourage hope for the future of aviation as it unfolds today and tomorrow. From the original fascination of birds in flight to the endless possibilities of space travel as well as new technology for domestic flights and reduction of the carbon footprint.
Over a dozen attendees were about to embark on a day of learning and engaging with some of the most experienced retirees from the aviation world. From engineers to pilots to military personnel and more who graciously gave of their time to produce an eventful experience.
Angela Sargent was first up with an informative presentation of “Woman in Aviation”. So many firsts by women in the early days of flight. Names like Amelia Earhart’s many accomplishments from 1929 to 1937 when she started her trip around the world and disappeared on July 2, 1937. First woman in a balloon in 1884 to the first woman in space, Roberta Bandar, spent eight days studying neurology. Rosella Bjorinson had regulations changed so pregnant women could fly in 1984. Deanne Brasseaur was the first female to get her wings to fly commercial aircraft. Elsie McGill was the first engineer/designer and helped design the Hawker/Hurricane for WW11. Mollie Reilly was the first corporate pilot in 1959. Lorna de Blicquy, first commercial pilot in the Artic. USA stunt pilot Joann Osterud. Hall of Famer, Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann was the first female pilot of Boeing Aircraft. Kathy Sullivan, a Shuttle Astronaut. These were just a few women that Angela spoke of and lastly she mentioned the first all-woman military crew supply aircraft for the Afghanistan conflict took flight in 2003. Further information on Women in Aviation can be found on the web at Canadian Women in Aviation.
Next there was an introduction to aerodynamics with wing lift, propeller limitations of length and configurations etc. which brought us all to the first coffee break.
Dale was up next using the famous “Air Buzz” which is a mock-up small aircraft, to explain the basic functions of the plane. Ailerons for roll, yaw and pitch. Left and right or roll of the plane’s axis noting that an up movement of the aileron causes air flow pushing downwards. Continuing, he shows the functions of the rudder for longitudinal directions and the elevators for controlling lateral or pitch of the aircraft. He was quite thorough in matching up the “lift, weight, thrust and drag” combination scenarios of the basics of flying.
Turning the audience around to watch the projector screen, Doby and Dale proceeded to show a common instrument panel functions. After this demonstrations Peter fired up the flight simulator and proceed to show how to crash an airplane while landing at Gillies Bay airport. Very entertaining and brought out some fun stories from the audience, thanks Peter.
Outside to the wind tunnel for demonstrations of airflow over a wing (unfortunately the model airplane was not working to show, remotely, how to fly) and participation was invited. Dale further explained the principles of flight using a model airplane showing the difference between ram air and lift created by the thrust of the engine. And ground effect of air up to 15 to 20 feet causing forces of lift or resistance to gravity where the plane does not want to land without sufficient speed controlling attitude.
Once the crowd was back to their seats Doby and Dale proceeded with a talk on the different propellers used on aircraft. Then onto engines where Doby did an overview of the typical small engine and Dale overviewed the different types of turbine engines such as turbo- fan, turbo- jet, turbo-prop and the Afterburning Turbo-jet (military). The PT6 turbine is Dale’s favorite for functionality and endurance.
Yeah, lunch break prepared and served by Danielle Plante was excellent and timely including homemade cake. Yummy!
The instructor tag team continued with descriptive commentary of robotic wing manufacturing through computer technology and automation to the Chinese invention of rockets. Dale took the lead in demonstrating wing construction with fabric firstly and then on to a aluminum riveting exercise showing the different types and methods used in the industry.
That ended the day and a round of applause was greatly appreciated. And a little more culture has been added to life on Texada.