Lesson 20: Runways at Night
Lesson 21: Using a Sectional
Lesson 22: Great Circle Distance, Latitude and Longitude
Lesson 23: Runways and Compasses
Lesson 24: Navigation Logs
Lesson 25: Knots and Nautical Miles
Lesson 26: Dead Reckoning and VORs
Lesson 27: ILS and GPS approaches
Lesson 28: Airways
Lesson 29: Flight Rules
Lesson 30: International Phonetic Alphabet
Lesson 31: Runways and Tail Numbers
Lesson 32: Famous Aviators
Quick Links:
Aviation 1
Aviation 2
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Lesson 20: Runways at Night
Airplane navigation is more complicated than driving a car. You have to know where you are, where you’re going, what your aircraft can and can’t handle, plot your exact course and have alternate routes ready, know how much gas you’ll need and make sure the airplane’s not overweight, and be ready for any kind of changes along the way.
Lesson 21: Using a Sectional
Download a sectional for your part of the USA here: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/vfr/
Lesson 22: Great Circle Distance, Latitude and Longitude
Great Circle Distance is the shortest distance between two points along the surface of the Earth.
Lesson 23: Runways and Compasses
A runway's number is not written in degrees, but in shorthand and you have to add an extra zero on the end of the number.
Lesson 24: Navigation Logs
A lot of kids learn how to use charts and graphs in math, but never actually use them for anything practical. This is an example of how they are used for real for something very important.
Lesson 25: Knots and Nautical Miles
A nautical mile is the distance that spans one minute of arc.
Lesson 26: Dead Reckoning and VORs
Dead" Reckoning (or "Ded" for Deductive Reckoning) is a basic navigational method that you can use that uses math calculations to plot a course.
Lesson 27: ILS and GPS approaches
An ILS system has a "Localizer" beam with only one radial aligned with the runway, a "glide slope" to give vertical information., and marker beacons in front of the landing runway to mark the distance the airplane is from the runway.
Materials:
glass of ice water
glass of hot water (see video)
towel
adult help
Lesson 28: Airways
Airways and jetways are large imaginary traffic lanes in the sky.
Lesson 29: Flight Rules
What do you do if you're on a collision course with another airplane?
Materials:
- 1 wood pencil with eraser
- AA battery pack
- 3VDC motor
- 5 popsicle sticks
- 2 alligator clip leads
- AA batteries for your battery case (Cheap dollar-store “heavy duty” type are perfect. Do NOT use alkaline batteries like Duracell or Energizer!)
- 1 propeller (rip this off an old toy or hand-held fan or balsa wood airplane)
- 1 tack
Lesson 30: International Phonetic Alphabet
Aviation has its own unique alphabet where whole words to represent one letter. The first letter of the word is the letter of the alphabet it represents.
Lesson 31: Runways and Tail Numbers
It's important to know how to get around on the ground as much as it is to navigate in the air.
Lesson 32: Famous Aviators
I could name at least two dozen people who have really made big differences to aviation, so here are my top six favorites. All of these people are in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Awesome job! You completed the entire course! Wa-hoo!!!
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