Flying Adventures with Quin & the Twins
Who’s Who & What’s What
Week 1
One of the reasons I started this writing project is to share my flying adventures with friends at Burns Science and Technology School in Oak Hill, Florida.
I got to know the students there when I spoke to several classes during their annual Aviation Week in 2018. At that time I was just beginning my training to become a commercial pilot.
The students were very excited about aviation in general and had many great questions about my own personal experiences, but we ran out of time. When we parted, I promised to keep in touch; hopefully these digital posts will help.
To add to the fun, I will try to take with me, and photograph whenever possible, two miniature plush figures of their school mascot, the Bald Eagle. I have named them “Sci” and “Tech” and you’ll meet them on the next slide. We invite you to join us as I expand my skills as a commercial airline pilot and explore the world.
To create these posts, we used a basic engineering tool, the Engineering Design Process (EDP).
Sci & Tech say: Learn more about . . .
The EDP
Applying the EDP to this post
What it feels like to fly over America
Come Fly with Me
I’m one of the eagle twins who will be traveling with Quin. We represent the mascot of Burns Science and Technology School in Oak Hill, Florida. You can remember that I’m a female because my name “Sci” starts with an “s” just like the word “she.” I usually wear bright belts or necklaces. We will be helping Quin by adding fun facts and websites to explore.
I’m the other eagle twin. You can tell us apart because I usually wear a blue T-shirt with our school’s name on it. We have been invited to go with our human friend Quin as she follows her new career as a commercial airline pilot and travels the world. We hope you will join us in our new adventure. Look for our Sci/Tech Challenge messages at the end of Quin’s posts.
My Name is Sci
My Name is Tech
Burns Sci-Tech School
The school started life in 1929 as an elementary school in the small community of Oak Hill in Volusia County, Florida. For budget reasons it was closed by the county school board and scheduled to be demolished in 2009. The residents banded together and in 2010 the Oak Hill Community Trust bought the property and made plans to reopen it in 2011 as a public charter school with a focus on Science and Technology.
Today it has 63 faculty and staff serving 600 students in grades K-8. For the last 5 years the school has earned a A rating from the state and in 2014 it also become an accredited STEM School; two years later it added the “A” for Arts to become a STEAM school. Currently there are plans to expand to the high school level.
Sci & Tech say: Learn more about . . .
Burns Sci-Tech School
The Oak Hill Story
Take the Sci/Tech Challenge:
Using a drawing program, design your own school. Share your creation by emailing a copy to muccij@burnsscitech.org.
The EDP – Engineering Design Process
In order to create this project, I worked the steps
of this basic engineering tool, the EDP.
- ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your constraints?
- IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
- PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
- CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
- IMPROVE: What works? What doesn’t? What could work better? Modify your design to make it better. Test it out!
Note that the EDP is a cycle—there’s no official start or end point. You can begin at any step, focus on just one step, move back and forth between steps, or repeat the cycle. For example, after you improve your design once, you may want to begin all over again to refine your technology. You can use the EDP again and again! Many times teams will work on different steps which will then become part of the problem solving circle.
Sci & Tech say: Learn more about . . .
How the EDP was used to create this project
Take the Sci/Tech Challenge:
Next time you have to complete a big project for school, use the steps in the EDP to keep you on track and organized.
Applying the Engineering Design Process
ASK: What is the problem?
BST wanted me to share information about my flying adventures with the students at the school. However, I was working in another city, and could not get to the school to meet with them face-to-face.
How have others approached it?
Blogs, Email Blasts, Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), video or phone meetings Skype/Facetime, etc.)
What are your constraints?
Have no ads, be a school-friendly site, include both facts & fun stuff, allow for many photos, be set up so information in the posts could be easily stored and found if needed in the future.
IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
I worked with a team of teachers, techies and pilots to gather and discuss different ideas.
PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
The team spent several weeks in the beginning setting goals, sharing ideas and and working out details. Some parts of the original plan were changed or added to as the project began to come to life. We made use of equipment and materials already on hand in the school.
CREATE: Follow your plan and create something.
In the summer of 2019, the team created the first few posts. They would introduce me, tell about my early experiences with flying, and follow my training to become a private and then commercial pilot. The plan was to add to the posts as I continued to fly and explore the world.
IMPROVE: What works? What doesn’t? What could work better? Modify your design to make it better. Test it out!
Over the coming year, as the BST students and teachers read and discuss the posts, they will be asked to share ideas to make the project better. Also, the design team will look ways to make improvements.
Ice Cream & Airplanes
For some folks, owning and flying a small plane is much the same as enjoying boating or motorcycling as a hobby. It is not unusual to go flying just for fun for an hour or so to visit places of interest that are near airports, such as beaches, restaurants, parks, museums, etc.
Our family loved to take short hops in our 1964 single engine Cherokee 160. We would often go from our home airport in Burlington, WI (BUU) to the nearby airport in Watertown, WI (RYV) where there was an ice cream shop right next to the field.
The unique 3-letter set of initials in parenthesis attached to the end of the name of an airports above is the code that that been assigned to that particular airport. Each airport in the country has a different code even though there may be more than one airport in the same city.
You can see another small plane in the background. It is a popular model made by Cessna. Notice that its wings are attached above the main body of the plane (referred to as a “high wing”), while our “low wing” Cherokee has the wing placement beneath the fuselage.
Sci & Tech say: Learn more about . . .
Airport codes by country
Codes of airports in cities around the world
Common aircraft wing types
Ice cream facts
Take the Sci/Tech Challenge:
Our normal cruise speed in the Cherokee 160 was about 115 miles per hour. How long would it take for us to fly from our home to the ice cream shop?
Balloons, Backyards & Bucket Lists
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of flying and airplanes. I was fascinated with and surrounded by flying lore and flying things.
Hot air balloons would often take off or land in fields near my home in Wisconsin. I hope to catch a ride in one someday. That is on my “Bucket List” of things to do during my life.
Some October, I would also like to attend the hot air balloon fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. It attracts thousands of people and more than 500 hot air balloons. Recent technology has allowed designers to create shapes like cartoon characters, buildings and animals.
Sci & Tech say: Learn more about . . .
History of flight
Hot air balloons
The Amazing Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Take the Sci/Tech Challenge:
With your teacher and/or friends work though these goal-setting activities to create some “Bucket List” activities of your own.
Take a look at one family’s ”Bucket List” and then make one with your family.
lectric library 