Flight Science

These are some educational activities that will help you learn about the science of flight.   Some of them you can try at home.  Suggestions are welcome.  Note that this site is under (heavy) construction and will be changing frequently. The site author takes sole responsibility for all content. 

We believe in the power of hands-on exploration and experimenting so we've created some great toys that are actually science experiments.  You can fly a balloon around the room and try to land it without tipping over.  The Bernoulli Basketball game challenges you to guide a ping pong ball through wickets and into a basket with nothing but invisible air from a fan.  We've set up some more sophisticated experiments in the wind tunnel and a spin rig that demonstrate the forces acting on an aircraft in flight.  There are lessons in these demonstrations for all ages.  These are experiments that the pioneers of flight conducted in the 1920's and 30's to make the first successful airplanes that you see on exhibit in our museum.