On Monday, November 10, a group of 35 students from NC State went to learn the fundamentals of how helicopters fly. Darius Carter’s VSTOL Aerodynamics class took a field trip with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to watch a demonstration of a helicopter taking flight.
VSTOL Aerodynamics introduces students to the dynamics of vertical lift-off and short take-off landing vehicles, such as helicopters. The aim of working with Highway Patrol is to give these students a chance to learn about the controls and procedures of flying a helicopter.
While students learn plenty of valuable information in class, many students’ biggest takeaway from their trip was the value of getting up-close experience. John Gillespie, a grad student at NC State, talks about the significance of doing experimental research in school. He credits Dr. Carter with being a large component of being able to do this research. Gillespie has been researching installed work for several years. This involves what might happen to a rotor when flying around buildings or cities, as opposed to flying in a safe, controlled environment. The Highway Patrol field trip gave him an opportunity to watch the maneuvering that the patrol team could do with the helicopter. Gillespie also says that hearing from people in the field explain their work was different from hearing professors explain it in a classroom setting.
“I’ve got hands-on experience with our aerodynamics labs, which were a ton of fun, but very early on, I got into experimental research… I would definitely recommend that for anybody in undergrad.”
Bailey Talent, a senior undergraduate student, says the pilots were very informative, and that it was different to see a vehicle in person, rather than seeing diagrams like they normally would in class.
NC State University is multi-faceted in its approach to teaching. We value hands-on experience and the ability to see what a career can look like after school.
“It was an awesome opportunity to see what they learned in the classroom operate in real life.”
