2024 SOAR Into STEM Fall Session 3: Aeronautical Engineering

By Carmelo Turdo

High school students from St. Louis area districts, private schools and homeschools participated in the third of four fall sessions of the Wings of Hope SOAR Into STEM Program on Saturday. SOAR Into STEM provides opportunities to apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills in the context of the Wings of Hope humanitarian aviation mission. Topics covered include Airplane Basics, Mechanics and Engineering, Navigation and Communication and Drone/Flight Opportunities.

In Session Three, led by Wings of Hope Education Programs Manager Lee Ann Nolte and a team of volunteer mentors, the students were introduced to a systematic approach to aircraft design through a series of activities. An outstanding presentation provided by a Senior Safety Engineer from the Boeing Company transformed theory into practice by using a current jet fighter program as an example of engineering and production excellence right here in St. Louis. As with all of the previous Halloween Week sessions, volunteer mentor Cathy Babis channeled the Late (we think) Amelia Earhart for the day!

The session began with a review of the previous week's Navigation and Communication concepts, including the essential knowledge of the U.S. Airspace System and proper communications methods used between aircraft and Air Traffic Control. Also, Wings of Hope volunteer and EAA Chapter 1675 member Tom Moors briefed the students on the upcoming EAA Young Eagles flights and gave out the registration paperwork. The students will fly in general aviation aircraft during the Career Fair/Young Eagles Flight day on November 9.

In the spirit of Halloween, there were several activities that nearly drove the students "batty." One was the construction and testing of a bat-shaped paper airplane design that presented challenges with weight and balance and center of gravity, concepts learned in Session 1. With some practice and creative modifications, the "Batplanes" were swooping around the hangar.  Another exercise included a zipline and bucket contest that required careful adjustments to the weights in the bucket as teams of students vied for the fastest time across the zipline. Along with the weights, a small toy bat passenger made the trip as well!

The main activity on the Mechanics and Engineering topic was the installation of an electrical system on a foam aircraft cutout. One objective was to mount a circuit to the aircraft so that two electric motors would run their propellers powered by a battery pack with a switch. Another objective was to add a circuit running navigation lights on the wingtips and tail controlled by a second switch off the same battery pack. Student teams worked on this project throughout the session.

The session's guest speaker was Roland Diaz, F-15 Lead System Safety Engineer at the Boeing Company in St. Louis. His education and work experience include a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University and internship and co-op job opportunities in the aerospace field before becoming a full-time Reliability and Maintainability Engineer and now Safety Engineer at Boeing. He is primarily assigned to the F-15 variants produced and supported by Boeing, and occasionally applies his talents to the T-7 Red Hawk and other Boeing military products. Safety Engineering is relevant to the development of aircraft, their components, weapons and support assets that may affect operation under all known environments. 

Diaz described the evolution of aviation system safety with several illustrations, including one chart showing the progression from the trial and error of the Wright Brothers to component analysis, fault-tree analysis and the current modeling methods that incorporate engineering and testing data from around the world. The emphasis of safety engineering remains on the development side of a system (aircraft) - identifying and reducing acceptable risk. He used the electrical system project, then in progress, to illustrate the Hazard Control process discussed in his presentation. Diaz also used the nearby Cessna 206 to lead a conversation about the risk management of aircraft aviation operations performed by Wings of Hope.

(Slide courtesy of Roland Diaz)

During the mentor meetups at the end of the session, the students were also given an inside look at the aircraft receiving maintenance in the Wings of Hope hangar. Here we show Wings of Hope volunteer mentors with their student groups at their tables and then moving about the hangar to the aircraft that were already opened up for inspections and repairs. 

SOAR Into STEM will continue this Saturday with Session Four, followed by Discovery Flight/ Career Fair Day. The Aero Experience thanks Wings of Hope and everyone who contributed to another great SOAR Into STEM session.