UA Aerospace Engineering Students Learn by Flying

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Several students in the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics at The University of Alabama recently had the opportunity to compare classroom theory to real-life experience by flying aboard a general aviation aircraft.

Students in the junior/senior level Flight Dynamics and Controls I class experienced aircraft dynamics and controls firsthand in a four-seater Cessna 172 aircraft owned by Bama Air and flown by pilot James Kicker of Tuscaloosa, taking off from the Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport. The students flew two at a time for about 30 minutes each.

This voluntary class activity was planned to help them understand the aircraft’s dynamic responses to the various controls and to compare those responses with the expected ones based on theory, according to Dr. Michael Polites, associate professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics and instructor of the class. Polites accompanied his students on the flights to assist in explanations of the demonstration. He underscored the importance of the experience, saying, “flying moves a student’s understanding of an aircraft to a higher level.”

“In class we talk about an aircraft’s aerodynamic control surfaces, like the elevators, the rudder and the ailerons,” Polites explained. “However, there is no substitute for seeing these things firsthand, moving them while in flight, and experiencing the aircraft’s response.”

Student participants included: Breck Enoch of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Pol Gonzalez of Atlanta, Ga.; Kristin Landry of Woodbridge, Va.; Jeff Morris of Geneva; Sara Philyaw of Huntsville; and Kevin Witzberger of San Francisco, Calif.

Some of the students had never been in an aircraft before and some had only flown as passengers on commercial flights. The AEM department plans to include flight experience as part of all future Flight Dynamics and Controls I courses.

Note to the Editor: To receive photos by e-mail to accompany this release, contact Dr. Michael Polites at mpolites@coe.eng.ua.edu or 205/348-2610.