Presentation: July 2021

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 26 July 2021
Subject: Aerospace Potpourri
Description: A different kind of change of pace this time - instead of doing one longer presentation that covered a single subject in some depth and ended with Jeff waking up his audience, this month's presentation was a series of shorter subjects that got no more than a slide or two each, with these subjects being centered around aerospace-related news and happenings in the world.  

The slides presented were entitled:

* US Airports face jet fuel shortage (several causes)

* Jet fuel from food waste? (new technologies)

* Mexico works to recover U.S. air safety rating

* UAE: So Many Int'l Airports = why? (separate Emirates)

* TESS Mission in second phase (extended mission, two slides)

* New material can reduce noise (very light aerogel)

* Plane hits wall because captain's seat failed (kicked levers)

* Israeli carriers launch Morocco routes (part of full diplomatic relations)

* Plane evacuated after teenager sends picture of airgun to other passengers

* Passengers behaving badly... (several examples)

* ... are rarely prosecuted (difficulties with enforcement)

Presentation: June 2021

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 21 June 2021
Subject: CAPardy!
Description: Change of pace for this month: a rousing game of "CAPardy", Jeff's spurious takeoff of the game shop Jeopardy.  A number of general questions were posed to a captive audience (the squadron), who got warm fuzzies for answering them correctly.

This month's questions centered around early aviation.  The categories used were: Lighter than Air, Gliders, Early Powered Flight, and Questionable Designs.

Presentation: September 2020

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 28 Sept 2020
Subject: Three "Forgotten" Aircraft
Description: Tonight, Jeff talked about three aircraft that are often forgotten when discussions of aviation history arise: the DC-4. the DC-5, and the DC-6.  Jeff himself remembers much talk of the DC-3 and DC-7, but these three in the middle often get overlooked.

The DC-4 had a number of improvements over the DC-3, not least of which was the tricycle gear rather than taildragger, but it still had an unpressurized cabin.

The DC-6 was almost a longer, more powerful version of the DC-4, with a pressurized cabin so passengers could enjoy the flights more.  Both of these were good designs and had moderate success both in the marketplace and in the military.

Not so the DC-5, which was an unrelated design that was obsolescent before the prototype was even built.  Only 12 ever were.

Presentation: August 2020

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 24 Aug 2020
Subject: Wildfires and Air Quality
Description: The presentation for August concerned the air quality, or lack thereof, in California with the wildfires surrounding the Bay Area and all over the state.  Jeff talked about the causes of these wildfires (dry brush, extreme heat, "dry" lightning), as well as the health effects of breathing smoky air, the effects on flying, and how to protect oneself as much as possible.

Presentation: July 2020

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 20 July 2020
Subject: Black Aviation Pioneers
Description: Jeff's presentation for tonight took advantage of the recent discussions about race and racial issues on the news by using the opportunity to shine a light on a number of early black aviators.  The goal was to discuss the contributions they made to aviation in general, and more specifically, to the ways in which their pioneering efforts paved the way for other black aviators to become part of aviation history.

Presentation: March 2020

This month's AE presenter: Kyle
Date of presentation: 23 Mar 2020
Subject: The Boeing 737 Max
Description: The Boeing 737 has a long history of being a successful and best-selling aircraft, until now.  The latest generation named the Max has been grounded for over a year now with no end in sight.  Kyle's excellent presentation explained what went wrong with the best seller.

Presentation: November 2019

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 18-Nov-2019
Subject: Aerospace CAP-ardy!
Description: For November, Jeff put together another rousing edition of CAP-ardy!, the game show that's sweeping all of CAP.  Well, at least here in Squadron 80.  Six aerospace-related categories ("Space Exploration", "Look! Up in the sky!" (astronomy), "It's a bird!" (hazards of bird strikes), "It's a plane!" (airlines), "The P-51 Mustang", and "AE Inside and Out"), including the last one provided by the Squadron CO himself, made for a fun evening with lots of aerospace discussions.

This was, of course, DESPITE the problems Jeff had with the software he wrote to play the game.  Ultimately, its flaws became part of the fun.  He hopes to have some of the problems worked out of it by the next time he trots it out.

Presentation: October 2019

This month's AE presenter: Kailash Kalidoss
Date of presentation: 28 Oct 1029
Subject: SOFIA - Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy
Description: The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an 80/20 joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to construct and maintain an airborne observatory. NASA was awarded the contract for the development of the aircraft, operation of the observatory and management of the American part of the project.

CAP members from Group 2 were invited to get up close with SOFIA, an airborne observatory that visited NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California on 19-October-2019. Some lucky CAP members got a unique opportunity to interact with the Mission Operator and learn some unique insights about the SOFIA project.

SOFIA is based on a Boeing 747SP, a special wide-body aircraft that has been modified to include a large door in the aft fuselage that can be opened in flight to allow a 2.5 m (8.2 ft) diameter reflecting telescope access to the sky.

The primary science objectives of SOFIA are to study the composition of planetary atmospheres and surfaces; to investigate the structure, evolution and composition of comets; to determine the physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium; and to explore the formation of stars and other stellar and celestial objects.

For more information watch the YouTube video on SOFIA and view the presentation to CAP, Squadron 80 on 28-Oct-2019.

Presentation: September 2019

This month's AE presenter: James AuBuchon
Date of presentation: 23 Sept 2019
Subject: How to Build a Space System III, Orbits
Description: Jim continued his series on how to build a space system with the third installment about orbits.

An orbit is the path taken by a celestial body under the gravitational influence of another body.  They may be open or closed.  The orbital characteristics of man-made space systems may be selected to best serve the mission of the space system.  Closed orbits in a two-body system are ellipses with each body orbiting the barycenter (center of gravity) of the system.  If one of the two objects is extremely massive (in comparison to the other), the barycenter may be within the more massive body.  Such is the case in the Solar System, the Earth-moon system, and man-made satellites orbiting a planetary body.

Six parameters are required to describe an orbit.  The six Newtonian parameters are equivalent to the six Keplerian parameters.  Either parameter set can be used.  Orbits may be perturbed by a long list of factors, hence the need for station-keeping in man-made satellites.  Perturbations can be deliberately introduced to change the orbit for operational reasons.  Orbits of man-made satellites are selected to optimize altitude, inclination, and synchronicity with the rotational period of the central body, and eccentricity.  These choices represent various operational trade-offs and are selected to suit the mission of the satellite.  Some of these trade-offs are discussed in greater detail.  Satellites can be caused to orbit about Lagrange points.

Presentation: June 2019

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: June 2019 (exact date TBD)
Subject: Strange Aircraft
Description: For June, Jeff dusted off his old Strange Aircraft presentation, which was actually one of the first ones he gave upon being appointed Squadron AEO.  (It's a good presentation and I'd hate for it to be forgotten!)

This time around, there were several people knowledgeable about specific planes mentioned, and a lively discussion (the best kind!) ensued.

Presentation: May 2019

This month's AE presenter: James Aubuchon
Date of presentation: May 2019 (exact date uncertain)
Subject: How to Build a Space System II, the Space Environment Proper
Description: Space is by its nature a difficult environment in which to place and operate any kind of system.  The space environment is characterized by high vacuum, temperature extremes, thermal cycling, and low gravity.

Though a small speck can damage a satellite, over 500,000 pieces of orbital debris larger than 10 cm are currently tracked by NASA.  There are over 40 known meteor showers that pass through Earth’s upper atmosphere.  There are also cosmic rays, micrometeoroids, and other particulates.  The chemical environment includes very reactive atomic oxygen and the Van Allen radiation belts.  There is an induced environment as the result of venting and outgassing from the space system itself which can interact with the space system.

Space weather variations, due mainly to the Sun, make the environment more challenging.  While visible light is approximately constant, X-ray and ultraviolet light are highly variable in time and space.

Solar wind, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, solar energetic particles, x-ray flares, solar radio bursts, & solar proton events are unpredictable and are sometimes huge to monumental.  These can react directly with the space system or with the Earth’s magnetosphere to cause geomagnetic storms.  They can energize the ionosphere and the Van Allen radiation belts.

Direct effects on the space system may include radiation damage which can cause single event upset, latchup, loss of orientation, execution of phantom commands, and degradation of solar panels.  They may result in spacecraft charging with subsequent spark discharge and possible damage.  Effects on the atmosphere may result in scintillation of satellite to ground communication.

These are some of the factors which make space a difficult environment.  Taken individually, any one might prove hazardous to endurance, navigation, or general operation of a space system.  Taken collectively, they make operating any such system in space a massive and yet delicate undertaking.

Presentation: April 2019

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 15-Apr-2019
Subject: Crew Dragon
Description: In this month's scintillating presentation, Jeff talked about the project called "Crew Dragon", a NASA-funded project being designed by SpaceX.  Crew Dragon is one of two variants of the larger project "Dragon 2", which itself is the successor to the earlier Dragon series of cargo transports by SpaceX.  The Crew Dragon variant is designed to carry up to seven astronauts, while the Cargo Dragon variant is exclusively for cargo.  A trial run successfully docked with the International Space Station on 8-Mar-2019.

Presentation: March 2019

This month's AE presenter: James Aubuchon
Date of presentation: 25-Mar-2019
Subject: How to Build a Space System I, Dealing with the Earth’s Atmosphere
Description: A space system must ascend (and possibly descend) through the atmosphere.  We must communicate with that system through the atmosphere.  Some very small portion of the atmosphere remains even at the altitude of man-made satellites.  The atmosphere has layers determined not by arbitrary boundaries, but by physical characteristics.  Still, there is more than one layering system.


The best known (Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere) is determined by temperature gradient (not temperature).  For example, temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere and increases with altitude in the stratosphere.


The atmosphere is also layered by chemical composition.  The atmosphere can be divided into the lower homosphere in which the atmosphere is well stirred and the higher heterosphere where chemical layering is more pronounced.  There is also an ozone layer, and an ionosphere (which, itself, has layers).


There is a lower acoustic zone and a higher anacoustic zone in which sound will not propagate.  These classifications schemes overlap one another.


The physical characteristics of the various layers were discussed.  The exosphere blends smoothly into outer space where the gravity of the Earth is no longer strong enough to prevent the solar radiation from removing particles from the Earth’s atmosphere.

Presentation: November 2018

This month's AE presenter: David
Date of presentation: 19-Nov-2018
Subject: Cruise Missiles
Description: David presented a brief history of cruise missiles. Cruise missiles have had a major impact on our world today as they have often been the first weapon used in modern conflicts. A cruise missile is a unmanned aircraft, similar to a drone, except that it is typically meant to hit its target and  not return (with some exceptions). Cruise missiles differ from ballistic missiles, which have a boost phase and fall back to the target by gravity.

Cruise missiles were first conceptualized in WWI with the modification of Navy Curtis N-9 biplanes to fly into ships. The Army also developed the Kettering Bug, another pilotless biplane, to attack land targets. These weapons were too late for WWI, but the V1 Buzz Bomb was used extensively in WWII and widely regarded as the first effective cruise missile. Ground and Air launched cruise missiles culminated with the BGM-109 Tomahawk and AGM-86 ALCM missiles used today.

Presentation: September 2018

This month's AE presenter: James Aubuchon
Date of presentation: 17-Sept-2018 (not 100% certain of exact date)
Subject: The source of subsonic lift
Description: Guest presenter James "Jim" Aubuchon delivered the September 2018 presentation on aerodynamics, explaining how the source of subsonic lift is Van der Waals Forces, and not the Bernoulli Effect as commonly believed.

The Bernoulli Effect is a valid observation made on liquids and published in 1738.  In some circumstances, it applies to gases.  However, it is an observed effect and not a fundamental cause.  Similarly, Newton’s Laws are statements of observed behavior and are not fundamental causes.  The fundamental forces of flight are gravity, which must be overcome, and the electromagnetic force, which provides lift.  In subsonic flight, the electromagnetic force is applied to the aircraft via Van der Waals forces.  The popular explanation of lift in terms of different airflow transit times above and below the wing is wrong.

The most intuitive way to visualize lift is in terms of Newton’s Laws.  The wing directs airflow downward behind the wing, hence the air exerts an upward force on the wing.  For a Cessna 182, air within about 5 meters above the wing is directed downward.  Downwash and Van der Waals forces cause lift, not Newton’s Laws or the Bernoulli Effect.  The Bernoulli Effect is useful in aircraft design to calculate the pressure distribution on aircraft surfaces, but, again, is not the proximal cause of lift.

Presentation: August 2018

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 6 Aug 2018
Subject: The TESS Mission
Description: Jeff gave a brief presentation outlining the goals and progress of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission.  TESS is a space telescope, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered by the Kepler mission.

Event: Drone Testing

David organized a mini-event at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, CA. Several squadron members participating in our Quadcopter Kit AE Stem Project met at Baylands Park to fly the STEM Quad Lugs quadcopter. This quadcopter, built at the squadron by squadron members, was stable on the easy settings, near impossible to control on the sensitive settings. It will continue to fly in the future, and will be used at recruiting events. This successfully concludes this STEM project.

While there, the group also flew other member-owned quadcopters and fixed wing RC aircraft. The park had other RC modelers flying their aircraft, and the group spent quite a bit of time watching them as well.

Presentation: July 2018

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 16 July 2018
Subject: Light Pollution - Saving the Dark
Description: This month's AE presentation talked about light pollution - the causes (excessive lighting, poorly shielded lighting (particularly street lights)), the effects (wasted energy, perpetually glowing sky, health and other effects on both humans and wildlife), and suggestions for ways to alleviate the problem.

Presentation: February 2018

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 12 Feb 2018 (not 100% certain)
Subject: Juno Mission - Update
Description: For February's presentation, Jeff talked about the Juno Mission (exploration of Jupiter).  The bulk of the presentation was a series of high-resolution images captured by the Juno spacecraft during its 8th, 9th, and 10th passes around Jupiter.  These images largely spoke for themselves and required only minimal explanation.

Presentation: December 2017

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 04 Dec 2017
Subject: Presentation: Aerospace Trivia Jeopardy
Description: At enormous risk to life and limb, Jeff put together a Jeopardy-like game with five Aerospace-related topics: Zeppelin, General, Airports and Airlines, Bird Strikes, and Atmospheric Considerations.  Thanks to an excellent audience warm-up by Safety Officer Sena, Jeff was able to masquerade as a fun gameshow host and guide the festivities.  A good time was had by some.