Bonjour Tout le Monde

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Bonjour Tout le Monde,

I am writing to you from Paris, France. Both of my plane flights went relatively well. I was able to catch up on some reading and watch a few movies while in the air. When I arrived in France, I took a train from the airport to my hotel. Luckily they both had stops on the same line. However, when I tried to leave the train station, I discovered that I had accidentally purchased the wrong ticket and therefore the turn-styles would not let me exit the station. In order to leave, I ended up calling the ticket office at the train station for help and one of the workers just manually opened the gate for me.

The classes for the French summer language intensive program seem to be going pretty well. We start at 9:00 am and finish by 4:00 pm on most days with about a two hour lunch break from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. We work a lot of building vocabulary and verb conjugation. When classes finish for the day, I either go to the supermarket to buy food or take the train into Paris for sightseeing.

The most iconic symbol and tourist attraction is, of course, the Eiffel Tower. According to the website for the landmark, the Eiffel Tower was built to commemorate the Exposition Universelle in 1889 which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel and took two years and two months to build.

The Eiffel Tower was created in 1889 and designed by Gustave Eiffel. Taken in July of 2013

Besides having 1,665 steps to the top, the Eiffel Tower is also known to light up every night for the first five minutes of every hour.

The Eiffel Tower at night. Taken by Kinoshita Atsushi in July of 2013.

In the picture with me are some of my classmates from the French summer language intensive program. Students come from countries all over the world, such as Brazil, Russia, Spain, South Africa, and Australia.

Another must see landmark of Paris is the Notre Dame. This year marks the 850th anniversary since the start of construction of the cathedral in 1163. Notre Dame then took about 100 years to complete.

Notre Dame Cathedral. Taken in July 2013.

The cathedral has about 37 sculptures of Mary, the Mother of God, inside the building and on the outside. Notre Dame is also known for having beautiful stained glass windows. The grandest of the windows is the South Rose Window, which was constructed in 1258 and has a diameter of 12.90 meters and a height of almost 19 meters. The 84 panes are divided into four circles each displaying events in the New Testament.

This is the South Rose Window at Notre Dame. Taken in July of 2013

During one of my free afternoons, a few of my classmates and I visited Bercy Park, which is located in the eastern side of Paris. Of the parks that I have visited in the past week, this one is by far my favorite because it contains many beautiful garden and flower beds, mazes, ponds with bridges, arched walkways, and statues. Here are just a few pictures of the park:

This tree lined walk way contained many benches suitable for reading books, eating a meal, or spending time in the presence of others. Taken in July of 2013.

 

This rock stature in a lily pond was my favorite place in the park. Taken in July of 2013.

Covered arch ways, such as this one, give park visitors a bit of privacy. Taken in July of 2013.

Bercy Park really highlighted one of the differences between French and American culture. I have noticed that the French have no hesitation to publicly display affection. While in America it is common to see couples holding hands and maybe exchanging a quick peck on the lips, the amount of touching between couples seems toned down compared to French couples. French couples, young and old, don’t mind making out in parks, trains, dance clubs, and other areas where everyone else can see them too. In addition, even on trains or walking on the street, it seems that the French have a much smaller personal space bubble than people in the US. It is very interesting and something that I need to learn to adapt to since I tend have a bubble larger than most of the French.

During this weekend, one of my classmates, Irina, and I visited the Ménangerie du Jardin des Plantes, essentially a small zoo located in the middle of Paris. Even though the menagerie was smaller than most zoos in the US, there were still plenty of animals to look at and learn about. Irina and I practiced our French by reading the information signs located next to each exhibit. One thing that I noticed was that each exhibit had smaller walls and fences compared to enclosures in the US. This may be due to the fact that since the menagerie was smaller, it did not contain many of the larger, more dangerous animals and therefore needed smaller safety precautions. It is also possible that France has fewer and less strict rules than in the US. Either way, it allowed Irina and me to view animals up close. Even though the menagerie was small, we were still able to see a lot of animals.

A flock of flamingos taking a nap in the afternoon sun. Taken in July of 2013.

A black panther prowling around his enclosure. Taken in July of 2013.

A crocodile in his enclosure. Taken in July of 2013.

One of the other must-dos in Paris is to experience the Parisian night life. On Saturday night, a few of my classmates and I went to a discothèque, a dance club. The one we visited was called Mix-Club whose entrance was located on street level, but whose dance floor was actually a few stories underground. The music was very loud and from countries all over the world. In addition, there were also a lot of flashing lights and fog machines. Since I love to dance, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even though we stayed at the club until 5AM, the club was nowhere near close to closing. The idea in Paris is that night clubs stay open until morning so that many intoxicated dancers have access to public transportation such as the trains, busses, and metro, most of which are closed at night, and to decrease the amount of drunk driving and related accidents. It makes sense to me. Since the other clubs in the same area are also underground, noise isn’t much of a problem, the clubs make more money, and people are kept safer.

A few classmates and I at a Paris dance club. Taken by Kinoshita Atsushi in July of 2013.

Thank you for reading,
-Brenna

Adventures at Poo Poo Point and other fun

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I have to admit: Washington State is beautiful. And what’s the best way to get acquainted with the Evergreen State? Explore the outdoors of course!

The beauty of Washington state

That’s something you don’t get to do much in Florida. The typical summer months here are a completely different idea than my summers in the Sunshine State. I can actually spend a lot of time outside without worrying about heat exhaustion or a sun burn!
So that’s exactly the first thing we did when my roommate came. That weekend, a few other friends and I went hiking to a place called Poo Poo Point (yes that is actually the name…) After a short 45 min. drive, we started our hike at about 10 am. See, not being a very outdoorsy girl, and upon encountering dreaded a 20-degree-steep climb all the way to the top…I gave up. Yep, I’m ashamed to say it but hey I lasted a good hour and a half! Anyways, my roommate and friends kept going, and I made my way back down to the mountain to do some shopping in the little town right by it. After about 5 hours, they were still not back, and I began to worry. Two hours passed…still nothing. I decided to call them. It turns out they got lost in the mountains!! They ended up at a private residence about 20 mns away by car, so I went to pick them up one by one. It was definitely a lucky break that I had decided to come back to the car! We would have had to walk all that way back to where the cars were parked! It was definitely my first great adventure here…

The following week after that was pretty uneventful at work. My job deals with pretty much every component around the engine, as well as the thrust reversers and the APU section in the tail. Say a material needs to be changed, or there is some sort of non-conformance from the original part drawing, then it is up to my team to figure out if it’s OK structurally to fly. I mean, these parts can be $1 million plus! So we can’t just be throwing everything away for the slightest error! We do a lot of finite element modeling, which is pretty much cutting a part into a bunch of little pieces and figuring out the stresses at every point on the part. It’s definitely not an easy job, but yet again, we are dealing with very high temperatures sometimes (1000F+) and constant vibration loads all around!

Example of FEM model – no pictures allowed at Boeing!

The weekend after that, we went to yet another baseball game (it seems to be a big thing around here, and Boeing employees get a pretty hefty discount on tickets).

At the game

SUPER Mariners fan

This time, it was Mariners-v- Yankees…guess who won? Yep, not Seattle…But what we did after that was quite more exciting! A few hours after the game ended, we went to watch a Roller Derby match. Yep, those girls in roller skates pouncing at each other and doing laps around a track. It was definitely very interesting…not quite as violent as I would have thought, though.

Roller Derby!

Right after the game, which luckily for us was near the Space Needle, we walked around the famous landmark. I love this city!

Space Needle

 

 

New England Racing!

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Working at the office or in the shop is one thing, but going to the track always puts everything into perspective for me. As an avid NASCAR fan my entire life, I have grown up with a love for racing, following the National Series week in and week out. Little did I know that I was missing a huge part of NASCAR that I knew hardly anything about: NASCAR Home Tracks. Working in the Weekly and Touring Department for the summer has introduced me to a part of NASCAR that I have come to love. I went to a few weekly races at Houston Motorsports Park growing up, but now, I have a whole new appreciation for grassroots racing.
As a Diversity Intern in this
department, I had the opportunity to travel to Connecticut with Lauren Wescoat, the manager of Weekly Racing Operations. We visited three different NASCAR Home Tracks in three days: Thompson Speedway, Stafford Motor Speedway, and Waterford Speedbowl. Part of our job is to travel to our NASCAR Home Tracks and visit with the promoters, competitors, sponsors, and fans. This allows us the opportunity to show support for their race programs, keep current with industry practices, oversee sponsorship fulfillment, and to continuously find ways to improve our program. Not to mention, watch some exciting weekly racing! I was able to watch some incredible drivers well known in the New England area, who compete in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, and who are former national and regional champions.

Thompson Speedway

Lauren Wescoat, manager of Weekly Racing Operations, and I at Stafford Motor Speedway.

I was also fortunate enough to catch the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Waterford Speedbowl. I found it interesting to see how weekly events and touring events compare. I gained valuable insight to how each series is run, and even got to watch tech inspection up close after the touring race. The officials were happy to teach me about the inspection process, and as an engineering student, I definitely soaked it all in. After watching so much racing weekly racing, I can now say watching modifieds is a new favorite of mine.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Waterford Speedbowl

Autograph Session

One of the best parts about grassroots racing is seeing how passionate these drivers and teams are. All of the tracks we visited were about an hour apart. Most of these drivers race at all three tracks every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They truly make racing their livelihood, work on extremely tight budgets, and are the foundation of this sport.

Touring the Whelen Engineering Headquarters Facility

 

Aside from racing, a few highlights from the weekend included visiting the Basketball Hall of Fame, eating a lobster roll for the first time, and touring the Whelen Engineering Headquarters facility in Chester, Connecticut. Phil Kurze, VP of Whelen Engineering, shared with us the history of Whelen, current projects they are involved in, and gave us a tour of their entire Whelen Engineering facility.  It was incredible to see how they create their products with such precision, and how passionate the Whelen employees are about what they do. I am so grateful to have had this amazing opportunity and am looking forward to learning more about this side of the business. Regardless of where my education takes me, I know that I can find a local track to get involved at as I pursue my career in motorsports.

Basketball Hall of Fame

This summer has been packed with racing! I saw some incredible weekly racing in Connecticut, traveled to Atlanta Dragway with Larsen Motorsports this last weekend for the Night of Fire, will be going to the Independence Day race at New Smyrna this Wednesday, will be attending the Subway Firecracker 250 on Friday, and the Coke-Zero 400 on Saturday!  So watch out for some exciting race updates this next week! (: I hope you’re pumped because I know I am!!

 

Ground Effect Glow.

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POSITION: CRQ
 
Let’s talk about ground effect. What is it? Glad you asked. When an aircraft is within wing distance from the ground, an increase in lift is generated in reference to the surface of the earth and airflow patterns about the airplane. This is called ground effect. It’s sort of like a cushion.
 
 
Personally, I love ground effect. An airplane flies better when in this phenomenon. However, there are two problems when it comes to ground effect. 1. The airplane may become airborne before reaching recommended takeoff speed. 2. Induced drag decreases in ground effect, so excess speed may cause floating upon landing.
 
 
So don’t get me wrong, this ‘cushion’ is a wonderful mechanism, but it can sometimes be unsafe. Sometimes ground effect can be a relief because the airplane wants to fly better, but what about this ground effect that makes us feel so secure? I think in a sense, we all have our own ground effect- a place that makes us feel safe and gives us comfort. An airplane cannot fly unless it leaves its ground effect and breaks free of the Earth’s surface. If not, there is no such thing as pure flight. Adventure begins at the end of your comfort zone. We cease to do so much when we are afraid to get out of our ground effect- it’s like we never take off. We never get airborne. Although it may seem appealing to stay in a comfortable place, it’s probably the most unsafe place you could be because you aren’t growing. We need to remember that getting out of our comfort zones is where the deliciousness is.
 
 
When you allow yourself to step out of your comfort zone, you open yourself up to a richer, more fulfilling life. You see and hear things that others miss and you are faced with opportunities that most aren’t. Determine one thing in your life that makes you uncomfortable, but would help you grow if you embraced it. There is a reason we have to go through ground effect before we can put our wings to use.  ✈
 

✈ I was so excited when I got this drink at Starbucks. It’s an instrument approach drink! Finally Starbucks is starting to recognize their pilot clientele 😉 If you didn’t know, VOR stands for VHF (very high frequency) Omnidirectional Range which is a means of radio navigation that enables an aircraft to determine its position and stay on course (that was the best ‘non-pilot’ explanation I could give). Haha.
 
 
 
The other day after my flight I looked up and found a Piper Arrow in my rearview mirror with my Embry-Riddle decal in frame. It was one of those moments. Another moment of leaving ground effect. Aside from working and flying, I am helping out at an aviation summer camp! Photos to come.
 
 
So, last thing’s last. Are you living in your ground effect, or are you rising above it?  It’s your call. When are you going to take it?
 
 
 
Blue Skies ✈
 
(My heart goes out to the passengers, crew and families who were involved in the Boeing 777 Asiana Airlines flight yesterday at San Francisco International Airport.)

The 2013 “Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics, of Atmospheric Regions” Meeting

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Greetings from Boulder, Colorado!

I’m going to be writing this entry throughout the week as events progress, but as the conference is nearly half-over (or half-started, for you optimists), I thought I should get started writing! Also for anybody interested, you can read my conference poster here. Note that it’s a hi-res PDF so it may take some time to load.

Tuesday

View of the mountains from outside my hotel room!

I’m blogging from my hotel room at the CEDAR conference while I take a break from sitting in talks that go way over my head. It’s been a great experience being here; I’ve met students from all over the country and world, and have really enjoyed talking to them. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, as is the view. This is my first time in Colorado, and I can definitely see myself calling it home someday, should the opportunity come along.

We arrived in Colorado late on Saturday night, after a long day of taking a final exam, catching a shuttle to Orlando, a delayed flight to Denver, and a shuttle to Boulder that forgot about us and ended up being an hour and a half late. It was quite lucky to have the time-change working in my favor, as I was up at 7 am the next morning (something I swear never to do) for breakfast and the beginning of the student workshop. Sunday was a whole day devoted to some lower-level talks aimed at students (albeit Masters and PhD students, so I was still pretty lost) and a lot of socializing. The group of us from Riddle, which consists of myself, three PhD students, and three Master’s students (all EP) have been pretty much sticking together, but in the last couple days we’ve also been hanging with a student from the Indian Institute of Technology, some students from Utah State and various other state colleges all over the country (I’ve lost track!), and a group of students doing an REU program at the MIT Haystack Observatory.  For those who haven’t heard that term, REU stands for Research Experience for Undergraduates, which is similar to an internship (it’s basically what I’m doing, but you usually go to another university to do it.) They are my favorite to talk to because they don’t make me feel like the kid in the group.

Panoramic picture of the mountains over the CU Boulder football stadium. They are such a sight to see, the camera just doesn’t capture it. Click for the full picture!

Yesterday we attended a fancy schmancy banquet at CU Boulder, which was a great time. The food was delicious and it gave us an opportunity to chat about all sorts of things – time flew and we almost missed the last bus back to the hotel! We all went out for “the best frozen yogurt in Boulder” afterwards and had more chance to chat in a less-formal setting. It was a blast! I regret sitting with students at the banquet rather than doing some networking with professionals, but I’ll have a better opportunity for that later in the week anyways (My plan is to schmooze some NASA guys into hooking me up with an internship.)

A few of us Riddle students after lunch in Boulder. Mountains!

The conference itself is definitely interesting, but does get boring (just being honest here!) The sessions are generally aimed at other scientists in the field, i.e. people with PhDs, so a lot of what they are talking about goes way over my head. It’s some pretty cool stuff though, and I do enjoy bits and pieces of it. Mostly it gives an impression of what it’s like to get out into the world and actually be a physicist, because until now the only viewpoint I’ve had was The Big Bang Theory. I’ve been spending a bit of time sitting in sessions, and then taking breaks to sit in my room and let my brain recuperate. The coolest talk so far has probably been the one this morning, which was a tribute to 50 years of gravity wave research. Dr. Colin Hines, the first to publish a paper on gravity waves (in 1960!),  participated in the session via phone, which was pretty cool. After that I grabbed lunch with the group from MIT Haystack and then came back for another gravity wave session, led by ERAU’s own Dr. Snively.

Tonight will be the first of two poster sessions; it is divided into “IT” and “MLT”, which stand for “Ionosphere/Thermosphere” and “Mesosphere/Lower-Thermosphere”. Basically it depends on what part of the atmosphere your research focuses on. My poster is MLT, so I’ll be presenting tomorrow evening, but I’ll definitely be out there tonight to get a feel for the session and check out the other posters from Riddle. That’s all I’ve got for now, I’ll write some more tomorrow…

Wednesday

Standing with my poster at the MLT poster session.

Today was the big day! I skipped out on all the sessions this morning to sit in my room and read over every inch of my poster – had to be ready for the big, scary questions! Well, there weren’t many big, scary questions, so that was good. Overall I think my poster presentation went well; I definitely got flustered going over my spiel so many times, but people seemed genuinely interested. And they should be, as I’m the only one here doing non-Earth research. I even handed a business card to a guy from NASA. It’s always worth a shot in the dark to say, “hey, I see you work at NASA, do you have any connections to internships?” I think he admired my forward-ness, because he took my business card and said he’d email me. You never know what can come from good networking!

After the poster session we all went into downtown Boulder for dinner – wow! I wish I had taken some pictures. It’s a really cool city, lots of small brick buildings, street performers, and little shops, bars, and restaurants. We ended up eating at this bar/restaurant, and had the whole second floor balcony to ourselves (mostly because it was the only place all 8 of us could fit!) It was a great time. And they had this raspberry red velvet torte with coffee ice cream that was divine.

Thursday

More mountains! I loved taking pictures of them.

Well, the conference is winding down. We were up way too early today for “breakfast with NSF”, where the directors of the National Science Foundation sat down with students over breakfast and just had an open conversation. It was cool, but I didn’t feel like I got much out of it. We ended up talking more about how the conference went and suggestions for next year than we did about getting jobs and working in the field. Also, we were just sitting in a big circle of chairs, and it’s really difficult to eat French toast from a plate on your lap. Just saying.

After that were the poster prizes. One of the students from Riddle and the guy from the Indian Institute of Technology with whom we have been hanging both won honorable mention awards! There was also a distinguished speaker lecture this morning by a woman who has been in this field of research for over fifty years. It was really interesting, because she talked more about her life and building her career than the actual science – she spoke about being denied entry into a PhD program in India and only being allowed to teach undergraduate physics to women, simply because she was a woman. It was a very thought-provoking lecture.

Ethiopian food! You take those bread rolls (we called them “food towels”) and use them to pick up the different foods. It was really good!

In the evening a few of us went out for Ethiopian food with the group from Utah State. It was a really cool experience – they bring one big plate of food to the table, and you all just kind of dig in (with your hands!). There is this like soft bread stuff you would rip off and use to grab the different foods. It was delicious, cultural, and a lot of fun!

Tomorrow we leave Boulder around noon. The trip over all has been fantastic, and an amazing experience. I can’t wait for next year!

Our whole group from ERAU!

Feel free to email me if you have questions about anything I have (or haven’t) talked about here. I’m always open to emails!

-Lynsey
schroel2@my.erau.edu

Summer Fun

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Well, I’ve already completed the first three weeks of my summer internship and haven’t said a single word about it. I guess I better fill you guys in on everything!

NASCAR Headquarters in Daytona

I am currently interning in Daytona Beach at the NASCAR building right across from Daytona International Speedway. It is nothing short of impressive. I work on the sixth floor as the Weekly and Touring Racing Operations Intern and I must say, the view from here is not shabby at all. As the Weekly and Touring Operations intern, I have the opportunity of working with NASCAR Home Tracks, which is the grassroots of racing. I get to work with the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the Euro Racecar Series, the Canadian Tire Series, the Toyota Series, the Whelen Southern Modified Series, the Whelen Modified Series, the K&N Pro East Series, and the K&N Pro West Series. As of right now, I have only worked with the Whelen All-American Series, the series where drivers race at the same local tracks weekly, but am hoping I get to learn a little more about the touring series soon.

The view from work

As a lifelong NASCAR fan, my knowledge of NASCAR has only been limited to the top three series: the Camping World Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Sprint Cup Series. I am so glad that I have been given the chance to work with grassroots racing. I knew nothing about these 8 series, and now, this is the perfect time for me to expand my knowledge and become more well-rounded in the sport. It’s only been three weeks and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve learned.

A few projects that I have worked on include: the NASCAR: An American Salute project, the NASCAR Green Tree Planting Program, a Spec Engine project, and Track Recruiting. If you have been watching any NASCAR races the last few weeks, you may have seen commercials for the American Salute platform. From Memorial Day Weekend to Independence Day, NASCAR is uniting to honor our military men and women. NASCAR is partnering with A Million Thanks to reach one million salutes to our military by writing personalized letters and dropping them at boxes that have been sent to tracks nationwide, and by using the hash tag #NASCARSalutes on Instagram and Twitter. I have been reaching out to all of the local weekly tracks across the country, encouraging them to take part in it, and creating a recap of all of the special military events these tracks are hosting.

Writing letters to our military

NASCAR is also partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to donate 90 trees to five weekly tracks, who will then choose a beneficiary locally to donate these trees to. NASCAR Green’s goal is to “neutralize carbon emissions of all NASCAR national series racing in 2013. I am currently in the process of collecting information from these tracks so that I can help move the program forward.

My supervisor gave me a Spec Engine project to work on because it directly applies to my technical knowledge and will give me an opportunity to learn more about engines. I have organized a list of parts needed to build this spec engine and have created a binder full of this information. I knew nothing about engines, but after looking up each part, organizing, and printing specs, I now have a better understanding of engine components.
Track recruiting has also been a huge part in my internship. NASCAR is always looking to sanction more local tracks; this requires gathering information from the hundreds of tracks across the country, working on packets of info that can be sent to them, and coming up with ways to improve upon the NASCAR program.

My new reading material (:

I guess that would be a short summary of what I’m working on. If I told you every single detail, we may be here for awhile.  What is my favorite part of my internship so far? I absolutely love talking to everyone in my department and constantly learn about what they do, and how all of these series work. One of my supervisors has drag and stock racing experience, so he is familiar with the technical side of the sport: the part of the sport I am dying to learn about. He constantly challenges me and tests my knowledge about stock cars. I guess I didn’t realize how little I really know…This has made me even more determined to continue learning and to make the extra effort. If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to always read and always make the effort to learn something new. I try to take at least 30 minutes of my day to do some research online or read my new racing magazines. I absolutely love it.
Learning about the business side of NASCAR has definitely been eye-opening for me. I think so much more highly of the sport after gaining this insight the last few weeks. Next week I will be traveling to Connecticut to attend a weekly race, touring race, and take a tour of the Whelen facility. Going to the track will definitely put what I have been doing at the office into perspective and make it all come together. I know working my first drag race with Larsen Motorsports did just that for me. I could go on all day so I better stop now! I have so much more to tell you guys but I’ll make you wait and save it for later. 😀

End of the Semester and the Brunt-Väisälä Frequency

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Hello again from good ol’ Daytona Beach!

My brand new coffee table from IKEA – it really makes the living room feel like a living room. And I put it together all by myself! 😀

My life is virtually the same as it was last time I wrote. It’s still way too hot and rains a lot – but that’s all I will say about that, because I promised no more complaining about the weather. I did get the leak in my car fixed, so at least now when I drive in the rain my feet stay dry! The Summer A semester is already winding down – my final exam is this weekend! It’s crazy how fast it went. I’ll definitely have to give two thumbs up to summer classes. I’m really looking forward to having my first three grad credits under my belt. Last weekend I went down to IKEA in Orlando with some friends to get new furniture for my apartment. IKEA is always fun; if you haven’t been you should definitely go. It’s like one the essentials of being in college. Not to mention spending two hours assembling a dresser at midnight really brings people closer together. Aside from all of that I’ve been doing a lot of the same old stuff. School, work TV, music, eating a lot of Indian food take-out (I’m a little bit addicted.)

A map of the location on Mars where we are simulating gravity waves, and the corresponding altitude map. The big mountain on the right is Olympus Mons.

My research in SPRL has been going really well. We’ve been working on simulating gravity waves near Olympus Mons, which is the largest mountain in the solar system, measuring up to about 22 km high (that’s 14 miles for those of you stuck on the English system.) There are a few different types of gravity waves but the type we are working with are Buoyancy Waves, which are caused by, you guessed it, the buoyancy force. Basically what happens is that air particles are forced to move upwards in the atmosphere because there’s a giant mountain in their way. Because the air at the base of the mountain is more dense than the air it’s now surrounded by, gravity pulls it back down. Think of it like taking a pingpong ball and pushing it down into a bath tub – once you let go it flies back up into the air because it overcompensates for the density difference. Air does this too, and as gravity pulls the air down, it pulls it too far, and the buoyancy force tries to fix this by pushing it back up – but too far again and the cycle repeats over and over again creating a wave in the air.

A time-lapse plot of a wave we simulated on Mars, which has a wavelength of about 40 km! You can see that as time passes the wave moves up and begins to reflect on itself – we are further investigating this phenomenon.

These waves are similar to ripples in a pond, but way bigger – with wavelengths of tens of kilometers long. That’s huge! In general they can’t be seen by the naked eye, however they often cause ripples that allow us to observe the waves. The waves on Mars are pretty cool. They are larger than the waves on Earth, due to the fact that the Martian atmosphere has a much lower Brunt-Väisälä frequency (I’ll explain about that later.) They also do not make it as far into the upper-atmosphere as they do on Earth, and tend to reflect upon each other around 60 km. We are now working on simulating a wave over Olympus Mons with a realistic wind profile, whereas until now we have assumed zero wind. The results have been very cool so far, and I’ll definitely have something to report next week.

Plots comparing the buoyancy frequency and period for Earth (blue) and Mars (red) with respect to altitude.

So I should probably explain the Brunt-Väisälä frequency. (Super cool name, right?) This is the natural frequency at which the atmosphere resonates. Think of it like when you tap on a wine glass – the sound it makes is its resonant frequency, the sound the glass wants to make based on its size, material, etc. This happens in the atmosphere as well, however the waves are much larger (like I mentioned in the last entry) so we can’t actually hear the sound. In the atmosphere, the resonant frequency is based on the temperature, density, chemical make-up, etc., and is the maximum possible frequency for gravity waves. On Mars, the Brunt-Väisälä frequency is much lower, resulting in much larger waves. For example, on Earth, gravity waves have typical periods of 5-8 minutes, whereas on Mars they are more like 15 minutes. In comparison, sound waves have periods on the order of milliseconds – so you can see how much larger the gravity waves really are!

I feel like I should have more to say, but my life is pretty boring. Well, I leave for the CEDAR conference on Saturday after my final exam… it’s definitely crunch time! I’m really looking forward to the trip, and hoping the weather in Colorado will be nice. I’ve never been to Colorado, but I know that that part of the country is beautiful. I’m also looking forward to having a Caribou Coffee in the Denver airport! (Starbucks has nothin’ on Caribou – midwesterners will know what I’m talking about.)

Tune in after the conference, I’m sure I’ll have a lot to write about! That’s all folks.

-Lynsey
schroel2@my.erau.edu

If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going!

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First real day on the job. The nerves start kicking in. What if I don’t know what to do? What if none of my co-workers like me?

Making new friends with the other Boeing interns

I met up with a fellow intern and rode into the Boeing Everett facility. I must say, my office is the most complicated place to find! But alas, I make my way into the area… at a very early 7 am (something I’m not very used to!). I met up with a lady from Human Resources, who showed me the way to my cubicle. With nobody there, I ask the person that sits behind me. Apparently, there was a mix up and they weren’t expecting me until a few weeks later! But all is good, as I get my laptop, keys and miscellaneous items.

A few hours later, my manager comes. Immediately, however, everybody goes out of their way to help me settle in. I work the traditional 8-hour day, but since everybody at the Everett plant seems to get to work super early (including me), I am out of the office by 3:30 pm every day! Kind of nice to have an afternoon off, and not have to go home straight to bed! That week, I do all my required training. And then…the weekend!

Of course…the weekend. Would be pretty nice, except for the fact that I am alone in my apartment until my roommates come! 🙂

It was rather uneventful, but I get all settled in and make last minute purchases for the apartment. I must say, the area isn’t the nicest, but I love my apartment!

Space Needle

The following week, I am given tours galore by some of my co-workers. We make our way to the Propulsion Systems facility, where all the Boeing engine components are added to the aircraft engines. Then, we make our way to the cream of the crop: the main factory, where almost all of the Boeing airplanes are built: the 767, 777 and 787. It’s one thing to say that this building is huge…but trust me once you walk in there, it’s HUGE. It’s incredible how much the concept of a moving assembly line has evolved from the days of Ford. I wish I had pictures to share…but alas no cameras allowed anywhere on Boeing property! You’ll have to come yourself and take the guided tour!

At the end of week two: woo the first roommates start to arrive! That second weekend, her and some of her fellow classmates from Puerto Rico (also interns) and I went to watch a Baseball game. It was some Texas team against the Seattle Mariners. My first ball game! It was quite interesting…but the Mariners won! Go team!

Go Mariners!

Well, that is all I have for now. More adventures to follow in a few weeks, so I’ll be sure to keep you updated! Also—if you have any questions about life at Riddle, hit me up by email at: osegueda@my.erau.edu. Or if you just need some advice about the many opportunities ERAU’s Career Services Office, be sure to check out their website for more information. Until then, “if it ain’t Boeing I ain’t going!”

Working the D-Hangar

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Today was my first day at work for Dynamic Aviation (DA). I ended up filling out loads of Human Resources paperwork, watching two movies on sexual harassment and safety, and taking a drug test. By the end of the work day, I was able to meet some of my co-workers and get started on cleaning de-icer boots. I left work today more confused about what the company “does” than when I started. The topics of “TOP SECRET CLEARANCE” and, “absolutely under no circumstances will you take photos” have a little something to do with my confusion. Because of that, you won’t be seeing photos of my workplace.

I am slowly learning names. At least the ones I remember to write down that is. I bring a note book to work every day. I write down employee names and maintenance notes. If they are a senior employee I also add something we talked about in our conversations together. I do this just in case I decide to write him an email later down the line. For two days now I have been shadowing an A&P mechanic named Ricky. He has been working for Dynamic Aviation for 3 months now in their Dash-8 modifications hangar. So far, all we have done is de-wax de-icer boots that go on the leading edges of the Bombardier Dash-8. We still have a couple days of stripping wax ahead of us. A great thing about this internship so far is the HUGE lunch break! Every day at noon the entire company practically sits outside for an hour to eat lunch. Two ladies from HR walk the parking lot for exercise. One mechanic I work with even walks the entire airport facility.

Three days and I am still cleaning de-icer boots. I am starting to learn more about how DA distributes its maintenance work. Who are the sheet metal guys, who are the avionics guys, etc. DA actually contracts a lot of things out which was surprising to me. I met some electricians who don’t even have their A&P because they fall under their contractor’s certificate to just do that one job. All day they make wire bundles that will be used on the new avionics packages that DA and its customers determined the planes need. DA has contracts with the government to recon and surveillance as well as contracts with the agricultural industry. After work I was so tired I practically went straight to bed. In the dorm room I am staying in, I have one roommate. He’s nice, respectful, and an aspiring pilot/mechanic like me. DA is paying me to work as well as covering the dorm room costs to live at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). So I guess I really should not complain about cleaning the de-icer boots of an about to be modified military contracted aircraft.

Friday! Ricky and I finally finished working on the boots and started taking off an engine exhaust fingernail panel (think about a 2 foot wide by 5 foot long plane exhaust tip). I have learned this week that the Dash-8 planes we are working on have come from Africa. An airline in Africa sold the planes to DA for extremely cheap because they were in a seriously rough condition. As of now we are recording all problems with the planes we find and cleaning the corrosion off so that DA can determine which -8 out of the five that they bought will be the cheapest to restore. Finally! I know a little about this maintenance program!!!

After work I drove to Maryland to see my cousin and help renovate their house. Saturday and Sunday my cousin’s husband and I replaced ceiling, laid rock board which will eventually see tile, and installed a water outlet for a washing machine. Back home to EMU in Harrisonburg by 6pm. At 11pm our new roommate Gary arrived from California.
I don’t know if I was tired from this past weekend, or am just not use to having steel toed boots on, because I felt like I was dragging my feet all morning. After lunch I started to work a little faster. Ricky and I have been put on a job installing the baggage compartment flooring inside a -8/100. First we had to clean and paint some corroded spots and inspect the entire area for damage. Other interns, like my roommate, are working in the paint shop, hose/upholstery shop, or working for facilities. I consider myself pretty lucky to land a position in the modification department in the D-hangar with the big planes. I spoke to Matt, our HR rep who handles all the interns, and talked about possibly working for the flight department for two weeks just to meet people and get some face time. He said it was a possibility, but it will take a week or so to set up.

Today I started work in “fast mode.” As soon as I could, I jumped into the -8 and started installing floor panels. One of the older mechanics needed some help so I jumped in a scissor lift and helped him attach a de-icer boot to the vertical stabilizer. Thirty feet high strapped to a lift screwing in boots absolutely made my day. This goes to show you how well DA treats their interns, especially if you’re motivated. Some “higher ups” in the company stopped by the hangar today and asked a question to the other gentlemen beside him. I overheard the question and knew the answer so I immediately jumped in. They were really impressed and it led to more talking. I told them about my ambitions and schooling. The men remembered my name and even talked about me working for DA in the future. Great contact for later. I wrote down their names, titles and what we talked about in my notebook for future references. Man I wish I could have taken photos of what I did today.

The D-Hangar crew was out for the day completing training to become a Part 145 repair station. That’s good news because being a 145 will open more contract deals with the government. So while they studied, I was given the job of installing all the floor panels and composite flooring in the -8. Some pretty fun stuff especially since I was doing it solo. Gary, my roommate, is now working in the D hangar. Hopefully I will still be given some personal projects like I had today. After work I went to the gym with Gary and since he has arrived the three of us haven’t stopped talking about flight, maintenance, and future jobs we would like to have. Good times.

Local History & the Future of Flight

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Greetings All,
Since I last wrote, I was very fortunate to visit a town in Florida that is near Daytona Beach. Two weekends ago, my friends and I drove a little less than an hour north to St. Augustine. The minute I saw this town, I absolutely loved it. According to the City of St. Augustine’s website, this town was founded in 1565 by the Spanish, which makes it the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. For those of you who are history buffs, this means that St. Augustine is 42 years older than Jamestown and 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

This is one of the side streets of St. Augustine. As you can see, it was in the historic part of town. Taken by Courtney Hough, my roommate.

In the present day, this city thrives on tourism. There are plenty of locally owned shops carrying artwork created by people who live in St. Augustine. There are unique foods to try from family-run cafes to high-end restaurants. In the evenings, many places have live music from all over the world. St. Augustine is a truly wonderful place.

Even though this city is almost 450 years old, it has aged beautifully. In the older parts of the city, there are historic cobblestone streets and houses with balconies.

Many houses in the older neighborhoods looked like this one. I love houses with balconies. Taken by Courtney Hough.

In the Historic Colonial District, there are 36 colonial buildings that are still standing.
One of the most beautiful buildings is part of Flagler College.

This is the sign in front of the college’s main buildings. Their school crest is amazing. Taken by Courtney Hough.

The main building was built in 1888 as part of the Spanish Renaissance architecture and was originally used for the Hotel Ponce de Leon.

This is one of Flagler College’s main buildings which was originally the Hotel Ponce de Leon. Taken by Courtney Hough.

It was one of the first poured-in-place concrete buildings in the United States and one of the first electrified buildings. The inside is absolutely beautiful.

The inside of this building was incredibly gorgeous with dark polished wood and vibrant paintings and art. Taken by Courtney Hough.

This is one of the main stairways leading up to the residence halls. Taken by Courtney Hough

The main entrance opens up into a courtyard with a fountain in the center and walkways leading to various parts of the buildings. In addition, there are many wonderful stained glass windows, mosaics, and murals.

Seeing all of the beautiful architecture of Flagler College makes me glad to be close enough to visit. For me, it is nice to see buildings, streets, and cities that were built hundreds of years ago because it gives me an appreciation for the hard work and dedication used in those times. Sometimes I feel that society is too busy dealing with the now or looking towards the future that the past is forgotten. While I enjoy modern cities of the United States, I sometimes feel that society has forgotten what it is like to plan not just for now, but for future generations. I believe that it is better to build and structure that is meant to last hundreds of years than to build one that may be torn down in maybe 15 years. It would save a lot of time and money in the long run, quality over quantity. It is interesting that the other big event of the past two weeks presents a strong contrast to St. Augustine and deals solely with the future and science.

Last Monday, Boeing’s new Dreamliner the experimental 787 was open to Embry-Riddle students for tours.

787 Dreamliner

This is the tail section of the new experiments 787. Pictures were not allowed inside the aircraft. Taken in June of 2013.


Since the Dreamliner is still in the experimental stage, the side of this plane was essentially used as a flying laboratory. There were stations for each scientist and engineer that monitored the sensors mounted in and on the aircraft. Data gathered each day is then uploaded into a main computer for analysis. Probably one of the most intriguing aspects about the inside of the plane was the large water tanks located all over. When we asked some of the scientists, we found out that they use these water tanks to manipulate the center of gravity of the plane to simulate the plane being as full capacity with strangers and luggage. The system is brilliant because it is so simple.

787 main engine

This is one of the main engines. I love the color. Taken in June 2013.

 

Dreamliner 787 Daytona Beach

This picture shows of my roommate, Courtney, and I in comparison to the jet engines. Taken in June of 2013.

Well, that’s most of the exciting news of the past two weeks. The next entry should be from France. Fingers crossed for luck. Thank you for reading.
-Brenna