Behind-the-Scenes: Engineering

Preparations for the Engineering Activity at NASC 2024 are coming along in leaps and bounds … and Cadets who opt to do Engineering this year are in for a treat.

The “engines” half day is almost complete … a chance to take apart a 2-stroke engine (and, hopefully, put it back together!); to take the head off a 4-stroke engine to see piston and valves – and understand how they are all connected inside; and a rare chance to see inside an ex-RAF jet engine.

The other half day (provisionally entitled “fabrication for flight”) is coming together nicely. Every cadet will make, and take home, a “demonstration piece” using various fasteners, and learn how to wire lock (one of the standard ways to avoid bolts coming loose in flight due to vibration), then use this new knowledge and skill each team will build a frame onto which they will fit some simple flight controls, attach sensors to detect movement of the flight control and build some simple circuits convert analogue signals to digital signals so that they can join the flight controls to a laptop to control a flight simulator.

This is the prototype “demonstration piece” showing rivets, a nut with a split washer, a nyloc nut, a lock nut, and a castle nut fitted with a cotter pin.

and the jigs for learning how to wire lock the heads of bolts/set screws are still a work in progress … there is just the minor detail of drilling 90 x 1.5mm holes in the heads!

There are only 64 places on the Engineering Activity this year so if this sounds like a day for you then you will need to get in quick!

Richard Steele

Sqn Ldr RAFAC

Engineering Activity Lead