|
|
WWI Student Projects
Virginia Beach, Virginia March 6, 2007. The Aviation Institute of Maintenance trains thousands of eager students to become aircraft technicians at its eight campuses. These budding aviation maintenance technicians are instructed and trained in all aspects of aircraft repair and maintenance. This includes all types of engines, airframes, aircraft systems, instruments, welding, rigging, and every other aspect of aircraft maintenance. However, since each class focuses on a single system, learning is often accomplished using training aids, instead of complete aircraft. This allows different groups of students to study, and practice on individual components, without interfering with other classes studying different systems. Unfortunately, something that the students rarely get to work on is a complete, airworthy, aircraft that they can see start up and take off into the sky. This means that they miss the excitement of seeing the real results of their hard work and problem solving.
We are going to try and change that in 2007. This will be accomplished by having each of our individual campuses build an airplane. The completed aircraft will demonstrate its capability by taking to the air. This will be a team project where active students, under the guidance and oversight of their instructors, will perform most of the work. The project will allow a group of students to demonstrate and improve the skills that they have been taught at their AIM campus. Their work will begin as a committee to evaluate different aircraft designs and select one particular model that they will construct during current calendar year 2007.
In order to increase the enthusiasm and excitement for such a project we are limiting the aircraft design to full-scale replicas of aircraft that flew during the “War To End All Wars” (WWI). In a few short years it, will be the hundred-year anniversary of the infamous conflict that greatly accelerated the design and use of airplanes.
Each campus will select contemporary plans for a single-engine WWI aircraft. The design, and construction budget will be submitted to the corporate offices for approval, prior to beginning construction. We can assume that modern engines will be used, but will be disguised by clever cowlings to closely resemble their wartime appearance. Students will be able to work during their off time, as volunteers, to construct component sections for the assembly of such an airframe. All the work will be supervised and overseen by a group of instructors (all licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics), who will also assist with the necessary FAA paperwork. To check on the construction progress of these aircraft a project blog is being maintained at AIMschool.com
The construction and flight of these aircraft will allow some of our more dedicated and enthusiastic students to gain valuable experience working on an airworthy aircraft. They can develop a sense of the responsibility associated with work on a piloted airplane, rather than on a training aide. We have selected WWI replica aircraft because there are plenty of proven replica plans available and they are relatively easy to construct with simple materials.
After completion of the aircraft, the necessary pre-flight and flight-testing will be accomplished at an airport near the school. The aircraft will then be available for display at local recruiting events, and nearby air shows. When all eight airplanes are completed, they (along with the primary group responsible for its construction) will be transported to our company airport (www.fighterfactory.net) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. There, the aircraft will be reassembled and flown individually, and as a group, to demonstrate their capabilities. A team of independent judges will select one aircraft as the best overall. That aircraft and its construction team will be awarded a trophy and a cash prize of One Hundred Thousand Dollars will be awarded to their school for equipment acquisitions. All of the aircraft will remain in Virginia for permanent display, but will always be associated with the school and those dedicated students that built them during the early part of their aviation careers.
For additional information: See the project blog at AIMschool.com and click on the MEDIA tab.
History Organizations Collaborate to Catalog Aviation Archives
Huntsville, Alabama June 23, 2006. Volunteers from four US aviation history organizations are collaborating to produce an on-line catalog of US Air Force Engineering Division records now held at the US National Archives II in College Park, Maryland. This gigantic collection of records chronicles the development and procurement of practically everything acquired by the US Air Force between 1917 and 1947. It contains reports, drawings, photographs, project diaries, and correspondence that trace hundreds of aircraft, engine, armament, and equipment R&D projects from initiation through development, design, testing, manufacture and operation. This collection represents the expenditure of billions of dollars, a huge amount of American ingenuity and is the core of American aeronautical history. Nowhere is there a similar collection so rich and extensive. This is more than just aviation history: It is also the history of technology, of business, of invention, of salesmanship, of finance, and of the production of Air Force materiel in war and peace. While interesting to historians and aviation history enthusiasts, it is also of enormous value to modelers and restorers of vintage aircraft.
This source of aviation history is available at no charge to anyone visiting the National Archives, but until now the lack of a well-organized or searchable catalog (also called a "finding aid", in Archives-speak) made all but impossible to use. In January 2005, the Aircraft Engine Historical Society began the task of creating an on-line catalog of the USAF Engineering Division records. More than 8,400 catalog pages were scanned and work packages created so that the project could be divided among volunteers for data entry, which started in June 2005.
Realizing the importance of
this project, The American Aviation Historical Society (www.aahs-online.org),
Society of Air Racing Historians (www.airrace.com), and World War 1 Aeroplanes
(www.ww1aeroplanesinc.org) encouraged their respective memberships to assist. Since then, more than 54,000 citations have been added to the
on-line database accessible via the Internet at www.enginehistory.org. At the
present rate of progress the catalog will be completed in late 2009. Additional volunteers can help speed its completion. Individuals with
in-depth knowledge of USAF aircraft and aircraft nomenclature and who are skilled
in the use of Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® and
Microsoft Excel® are welcome and should contact the
project manager by sending a short email to
.
In the meantime, researchers may use this “work-in-progress” to assist
their investigations.
Visit the On-Line USAF Engineering Division Finding Aid
All participating organizations are non-profit, and all seek your support. For more information contact Kimble D. McCutcheon at the address below.
Additional Information
The Aircraft Engine Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the history of people, art, and science associated with aircraft engine development, manufacture, and use. It publishes a quarterly journal, Torque Meter. Please see www.enginehistory.org.
The American Aviation Historical Society, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, focuses on the preservation and dissemination of the rich heritage of American aviation. It publishes a quarterly AAHS Journal and quarterly newsletter. Please see www.aahs-online.org.
The Society of Air Racing Historians works to preserve the complete and accurate records of air races, race pilots, and race planes. It publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, Golden Pylons. Please see www.airrace.com.
The World War 1 Aeroplanes organization is devoted to the flying machines of 1900-1940 and publishes two quarterly journals, WW1 Aero (covering 1900-1919) and Skyways (covering 1920-1940). Please see www.ww1aeroplanesinc.org and www.skywaysjournal.org.
Contact Information
Kimble D. McCutcheon, President
Aircraft Engine Historical Society, Inc.
1019 Old Monrovia RD NW STE 201, Huntsville, AL 35806
E-mail Address:
