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Teachable definition for...
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First, "Dumbed down notes" may be a bad approach. As an instructor you are trying to explain something to a student that is probably new to them. You need to explain it in a way that they can make the leap from their knowledge base (area of knowledge) to yours. They are not dumb, they lack specific knowledge at this time. Later you can decide if they are dumb or not...
Imagine in a dictonary to define: Airplane - is an airplane. You can see this won't work because the student still doesn't know what an airplane is. If you define an airplane as: A machine that moves through the air supported by fixed wings, propelled by the thrust of an engine. They may have to look up specifically what "wings" and "engine" are but, it is a better deffinition because they (hopefully) know what a machine is, what air is, what wings are, and what an engine is.
You can also explain by an example. First you need to find out what background a student has. If you have a 50 year old mechanical engineer as a student, the mechanical explanations may come easier. If your student is a 40 year old house wife, you may need more domestic examples to find their knowledge base. They may have a wide background which makes it easier for you to find common ground for an explination, but you need to find this out early. A student that has no background makes it more of a challange to you. In your spare time read the book "Seven Kinds of Smart". It can give you ideas to look for common ground.
But this is not helping you write your book. The examples given in eariler posts in the thread are good. Direct drive is when the propeller is directly connected to the crankshaft. And taking them to a hanager to show an example is very benificial to the student. (make friends with the mechanic early and always ask permission, and stay ot of his way when they are working.) I suggest you give an example of another kind of drive to aid in the students understanding. A geared propeller is:... to show the difference so the student can understand the differences and not just a fact. It all depends in what level of learning you are trying to teach; Rote, Understanding, Application, or Correlation.
This is a long rant but, I just was concerned that you were using the word "dumb" with "student". The level of your book may be at the Rote level, the student may not be dumb.
Remember that to be an "Instructor" you only have to be ahead of the class by a couple of pages in the book. To be a good or great instructor requires much more.
I'm getting off my soap box now.
JAFI
Imagine in a dictonary to define: Airplane - is an airplane. You can see this won't work because the student still doesn't know what an airplane is. If you define an airplane as: A machine that moves through the air supported by fixed wings, propelled by the thrust of an engine. They may have to look up specifically what "wings" and "engine" are but, it is a better deffinition because they (hopefully) know what a machine is, what air is, what wings are, and what an engine is.
You can also explain by an example. First you need to find out what background a student has. If you have a 50 year old mechanical engineer as a student, the mechanical explanations may come easier. If your student is a 40 year old house wife, you may need more domestic examples to find their knowledge base. They may have a wide background which makes it easier for you to find common ground for an explination, but you need to find this out early. A student that has no background makes it more of a challange to you. In your spare time read the book "Seven Kinds of Smart". It can give you ideas to look for common ground.
But this is not helping you write your book. The examples given in eariler posts in the thread are good. Direct drive is when the propeller is directly connected to the crankshaft. And taking them to a hanager to show an example is very benificial to the student. (make friends with the mechanic early and always ask permission, and stay ot of his way when they are working.) I suggest you give an example of another kind of drive to aid in the students understanding. A geared propeller is:... to show the difference so the student can understand the differences and not just a fact. It all depends in what level of learning you are trying to teach; Rote, Understanding, Application, or Correlation.
This is a long rant but, I just was concerned that you were using the word "dumb" with "student". The level of your book may be at the Rote level, the student may not be dumb.
Remember that to be an "Instructor" you only have to be ahead of the class by a couple of pages in the book. To be a good or great instructor requires much more.
I'm getting off my soap box now.
JAFI
The others have answered the original question quite well. This is more of the 'how to teach it' answer:
Be extra careful when hanging around the mechanics, you might end up 'just helping out for a bit' and then suddenly you find yourself a certified mechanic.
While the shop mechanics may joke about up the rate to the 'if the pilot helps' level, if the mechanics don't want you around, there's something very wrong there. Either the relationship has failed, or there's something they don't want you to see. Neither is good for trusting the planes you risk your life in every day.
I just had a student pilot in an instrument repair shop last week. One of his airplane's gyros had shown signs of failing. On the test bench we confirmed the instrument had not failed, but there was a vacuum system problem. Afterwards, the student commented that he learned more in the last hour than all of his reading about instruments.
Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein
Be extra careful when hanging around the mechanics, you might end up 'just helping out for a bit' and then suddenly you find yourself a certified mechanic.
While the shop mechanics may joke about up the rate to the 'if the pilot helps' level, if the mechanics don't want you around, there's something very wrong there. Either the relationship has failed, or there's something they don't want you to see. Neither is good for trusting the planes you risk your life in every day.
I just had a student pilot in an instrument repair shop last week. One of his airplane's gyros had shown signs of failing. On the test bench we confirmed the instrument had not failed, but there was a vacuum system problem. Afterwards, the student commented that he learned more in the last hour than all of his reading about instruments.
Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein
Tinstaafl
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Direct drive is like an engine driven lawn mower: The blades turn as the engine turns. There's no gearing or clutch mechanism between the prop & the engine to alter the revs. of the blades from what the engine is doing, such as in a car. Engine turns over at 1 RPM, prop. turns at 1 RPM. Engine turns at 1000 RPM, prop. turns at 1000 RPM etc etc
KeroseneSnorter
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bafanguy
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Lead Sled said:
OK, 'sled, a propellor is a big, whirling, metal thing that sits in front of another loud, smelly, smoky, complicated collection of other metal things spinning rapidly for all the are worth.
If you really concentrate, it will all come back to you. If you can remember where you left your reading glasses, you can remember what a prop is. The sound of it all is what's so sweet.
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