Grade 8 learners from the Arthur Cotton Design and Technology Centre at St Andrew’s College recently modelled, designed and flew hang-gliders.
Grade 8 learners from the Arthur Cotton Design and Technology Centre at St Andrew’s College recently modelled, designed and flew hang-gliders.
The project was part of their Design and Technology lessons with three groups working on frames, fabric and control bars in the ‘hangar’ of the Centre. The teacher of the class, Tim Barnard said, "The cost of working full-scale to create the hang-gliders was offset by using materials that were to be recycled once the aircraft[s]were de-constructed."
On the day of the test flights, boys launched themselves into the wind, down banks around the school’s Knowling field. Barnard said, "We definitely got lift, but the flights were too short to gauge whether that would translate into a proper glide."
The Director of the Design and Technology Centre, Keith van Winkel said, "The excitement generated by projects like this has ensured that we see large number of pupils continuing with Design to Grade 12, about 25 % of learners take Design as a matric subject and we have recently heard how well many of these pupils have done in tertiary design, engineering and architecture courses. Excitement about learning translates to deep understanding".
