STIIX Helicopter Project: Explore the Science of Rotary Flight
In the STIIX Helicopter Project, students take on the role of aerospace engineers in STIIX-Ville, tasked with designing and building a working rotary-wing aircraft. Through this hands-on challenge, learners explore the key forces that enable flight—lift, drag, torque, thrust—and discover how rotor design, blade angle, and weight distribution all influence helicopter performance.
The project follows a full engineering cycle: students begin with five instructional videos (Intro, Academic Concepts, How-To Build, Testing & Evaluation, and a real-world engineer spotlight) that ground them in the physics of flight. Next, they sketch design ideas, build prototypes using STIIX’s modular components, and launch test flights. During testing, learners measure rotor speed, balance, flight duration, and stability. Through iterative redesign, teams refine blade pitch, rotor spacing, and fuselage weight to optimize lift and minimize unwanted torque.
As they refine their models, students confront real engineering tradeoffs—more lift might mean more drag, a lighter body could sacrifice control, and blade angle adjustments change torque. These tradeoffs mirror real-world aerospace design challenges, helping learners understand that optimal design often requires balancing competing forces.
Teachers receive a robust support package: lesson plans, build-logs, student worksheets, evaluation guides, and presentation templates, all aligned to NGSS engineering standards. This makes implementation smooth for classroom teachers, after-school programs, or makerspaces. The project is designed for about 2–3 hours of instructional time, making it a compact but powerful STEM unit.
Bring structure and excitement to hands-on learning with STIIX-Ville — your digital hub for project guides, assessments, and student progress tracking.
What’s Included in the Box:
- STIIX structural sticks & connectors
- Rotor blades / rotor-arm components
- Hub or rotor-disc pieces
- Weight-adjustable mass modules (for balancing)
- Build-log & design sketch worksheets
- Testing & evaluation guide (flight testing, data collection)
- Reflection & iteration prompts
- Teacher slide deck & lesson plan
- Instructional videos (5 modules: Intro, Academic, How-To, Testing, Engineer Spotlight)
