Battle of the Airplanes

Purpose: To give students experience searching a web site for information to compare and contrast various models of airplanes

Materials

• Compare the Pairs Sheet
• internet connection
• web site: http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/home.htm
• pencil

Procedure

1. From the activity sheet, choose several pairs of airplanes to compare.
2. Open the internet connection.
3. By typing in the above address, go to the web site for the National Air and Space Museum aircraft library. Once there, bookmark the site for future reference.
4. The planes are listed in alphabetical sections. Click on the section that includes the first plane you selected.
5. Locate the plane by scrolling down and clicking on the blue link.
6. Read the information and record the main ideas and interesting facts on the comparison cards.
7. Click on the back button to return to the original list of alphabetical sections.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 until you have researched all the planes you have chosen.
9. In a presentation to the class, share the information about your planes.

Compare the Pairs Sheet
Compare the following pairs of aircraft:

Sikorsky XR-4 (VS-316)				and  Hiller XH-44 Hiller Copter

Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero				  and  Beech 35 Bonanza Waikiki Beach

Grumman F4F-4 (FM-1) Wildcat		  and  Dassault Cargo Fanjet Falcon 20C

Bell 206 Long Ranger Spirit of Texas  and  Bell 47J (VH-13J)

McDonnell FH-1 Phantom 1			  and  Sikorsky JRS-1 (S-43)

Pfaltz D.XII						  and  Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket

Pitcairn AC-35						and  Lilienthal 1894 Glider

Northrop Gamma Polar Star			 and  Douglas DC-3

Pitts Special S-1C Little Stinker	 and  Extra 260

Wright 1903 Flyer					 and  Wright 1909 Flyer

Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis			and  Lockheed C-130A Hercules

Boeing B-17D Swoose					and  North American F-86A Sabre

Convair 240 Caroline				  and  Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus

Langley Aerodrome A					and  Lockheed 5B Vega

Wright EX Vin Fiz					 and  Fulton FA-3-101 Airphibian

Airplane/Helicopter 1
Wingspan _______________________
Length __________________________
Height __________________________
Weight __________________________

Interesting Facts
1. ___________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Airplane/Helicopter 2
Wingspan _______________________
Length __________________________
Height __________________________
Weight __________________________

Interesting Facts
1. ___________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________