Clarkson University’s Design of Aerospace Structures class continues its third year of aerospace engineering students collaborating with aviation museums across the United States and Canada, this fall.
In past semesters, Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Craig Merrett has enlisted nearly a dozen aircraft museums across the United States and Canada to participate in the juniors’ group projects with each offering an aircraft from their collection for analysis.
Two new museums from Georgia have joined the project this year: the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Pooler, outside of Savannah, and the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, near Macon.
Merrett says that this year marks a number of significant anniversaries in aerospace, aviation, and world history: the 15th anniversary of the Afghanistan War, the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, the 50th anniversary of the F-15 Eagle, the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, the 75th anniversary of breaking the sound barrier, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Eighth Air Force, and the 100th anniversary of aircraft carrier landings.
In recognition of these technical and historical anniversaries, the theme for the aerospace structures course is “Pushing Limits.”
This fall’s class features two helicopters for the first time: the Bell UH-1H Huey from the Alaska Aviation Museum and the Boeing CH-47 Chinook from the National Air Force Museum of Canada.
The Air Force Flight Test Museum is also providing an X-plane for students to study, the Northrop X-4 Bantam.
And, most exciting, says Merrett, is the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, one of the earliest stealth aircraft, being provided by the Museum of Aviation.
The students will study the biographies of famous pilots and aerospace engineers, and interview test pilots and combat pilots to gain a deeper understanding of how these famed aircraft were used and the roles they played in historical events.
Additional aircraft and participating museums are:
- Combat Air Museum – McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, 50th anniversary
- National Warplane Museum – Lockheed C-130A “Saigon Lady”, Lt. Kheim Pham
- Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum – North American F-86 Sabre, Korean war, 50th anniversary of the museum
- New England Air Museum – Burnelli CBY-3, lifting body
- National Naval Aviation Museum – Vought F-8 Crusader, Vietnam
- San Diego Air & Space Museum – LTV A-7B Corsair II, Vietnam and 100th anniversary of carrier landings
- National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force – Consolidated B-24 Liberator, mass production and 80th anniversary of the museum
The class, which started in August continues until December, with in-person classes and virtual sessions with the museums and other partners.
https://www.clarkson.edu/news/clarkson-university-aerospace-engineering-juniors-pushing-limits