Let Your Child Fly With Seeds Software’s
Introduction to Airplane Design
By Neil Schuldiner

Planning on purchasing gliders to teach your children or students the basics of aerospace principles? Instead, consider Seeds Software’s Introduction to Airplane Design, an interactive educational software “toy” that will enable your child to design and construct his or her own gliders while learning the theoretical concepts of flight.

Designed for grades seven through twelve, and compatible with both Windows and Macintosh based computers (thanks to its hybrid CD), Introduction to Airplane Design consists of two components – tutorials and the Real Glider sections.

The tutorial component includes detailed simulations, illustrations and diagrams that educate users on concepts from Newton’s laws of motion to simulations exemplifying gravity, lift, thrust and drag. Such simulations oftentimes include interactive components which allow users to input variables relating to wing design, pitch, angle of attack, etc. — and see the real-time effects of such alterations. In one such tutorial, students enter data relating to the concept of “lift,” and interactively alter an animated simulation of airflow over an airfoil.

The Glider section, Introduction to Airplane Design’s most intriguing component, lets students and children apply the concepts of aerodynamics that they learned in the tutorial component—in the design of an actual flyable glider. Based on such variables as wing and fuselage dimensions and horizontal and vertical stabilizers entered by the user, the program constructs an image of a model craft. Introduction to Airplane Design then calculates the theoretical likelihood of the aircraft’s ability to soar. If the program determines your plane should be grounded, the program cites your errors (perhaps your wing design or propulsion variables were off) and offers recommendations to alleviate your design flaws. If the user’s design can “take off,” it prints out detailed instructions and diagrams to assemble your model aircraft.

While Introduction to Airplane Design could benefit from improved graphics and more sophisticated animations, it’s difficult not to recommend the program. With lesson plans, quizzes and answer sheets for teachers, and concise user instructions for parents, Seeds Software has created a product both teachers, parents and children are sure to take to the skies!#

Introduction to Airplane Design by Seeds Software (email: Science@Seeds2Learn.com; Web: www.Seeds2Learn.com; 206-782-0914). Windows System Requirements: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, 20 to 25 MB of RAM, 50 Mhz processor; Macintosh System Requiremnts: Mac Power PC, Mac OS 7.3 to OSX, 15 MB of avaiable RAM.