1. (a) Implementation.

   1. (1) The provisions of this section shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
   2. (2) School districts shall implement the employability skills student expectations listed in §127.15(d)(2) of this chapter (relating to Career and Technical Education Employability Skills) as an integral part of this course.
2. (b) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 11 and 12. Prerequisites: Geometry and Aerospace Design I. Students shall be awarded two credits for successful completion of this course.

3. (c) Introduction.

   1. (1) Career and technical education instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards, industry-relevant technical knowledge, and college and career readiness skills for students to further their education and succeed in current and emerging professions.
   2. (2) The Engineering Career Cluster focuses on planning, designing, testing, building, and maintaining machines, structures, materials, systems, and processes using empirical evidence and science, technology, and math principles. This career cluster includes occupations ranging from mechanical engineer and drafter to electrical engineer and mapping technician.
   3. (3) Students enrolled in Aerospace Design II demonstrate knowledge and skills associated with the design and prototyping of aerospace systems. Through aerospace projects, students apply fundamental concepts such as managing an engineering project to meet mission requirements, prototyping, testing, and validating requirements. Students explore choices made for propulsion, material, and structural design as well as various ways aircraft can navigate. Emphasis is placed on team collaboration and professional documentation.
   4. (4) Students are encouraged to participate in extended learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations and other organizations that foster leadership and career development in the profession such as student chapters of related professional associations.
   5. (5) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

4. (d) Knowledge and skills.

   1. (1) The student researches and describes ethics pertaining to engineering. The student is expected to explain how engineering ethics as defined by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors apply to engineering practice.

   2. (2) The student understands how to implement an engineering design process to develop a product or solution. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) describe and implement the stages of an engineering design process to construct a model;
      2. (B) explain how factors, including complexity, scope, resources, ethics, regulations, manufacturability, maintainability, and technology, impact stages of the engineering design process;
      3. (C) explain how stakeholders impact an engineering design process; and
      4. (D) analyze how failure is often an essential component of the engineering design process.

   3. (3) The student explores the methods and aspects of project management in relation to projects. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) research and explain the process and phases of project management, including initiating, planning, executing, and closing;
      2. (B) explain the roles and responsibilities of team members, including project managers and leads;
      3. (C) research and evaluate methods and tools available for managing a project;
      4. (D) discuss the importance of developing and implementing a system for the organization of project documentation such as file naming conventions, document release control, and version control;
      5. (E) describe how project requirements, constraints, and deliverables impact the project schedule and influence and are influenced by an engineering design;
      6. (F) explain how a project budget, including materials, equipment, and labor, is developed and maintained; and
      7. (G) describe the importance of management of change (MOC) and how MOC applies to project planning.

   4. (4) Collaboration. The student engages in multiple team projects and activities. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) explain and apply sensemaking skills such as recognizing team members who require additional clarity and addressing team members to provide clarity;
      2. (B) apply methods such as Gantt charts, work breakdown structure, Agile, and critical path method to structure a project;
      3. (C) apply principles of critique within the team such as describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating;
      4. (D) develop and present action plans to positively support the team's work relationships;
      5. (E) explain and model how to provide an effective critique of team members on topics such as team performance, test performance, project development, or presentation;
      6. (F) explain and model how to provide an effective critique of other teams on topics such as presentation, problem definition, schedule, and solution justification;
      7. (G) analyze and evaluate critique received from team members and other teams; and
      8. (H) develop a design review presentation to provide status and solicit feedback on the design problem and solution.

   5. (5) Documentation. The student documents information and interpretation developed throughout engineering processes. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) generate documents such as executive summaries, reverse engineering forms, test reports, failure documents, system black box models, engineering notebooks, and drawing packages by applying professional standards and templates;
      2. (B) select the appropriate document format for the information being communicated based on the audience;
      3. (C) explain and justify the structure and sequence of how the information is presented in the engineering documents;
      4. (D) create assembly and user manuals for peer review; and
      5. (E) generate a final design report that focuses on the project scope and solution with appendices to capture all relevant design information such as the design process used, requirements compliance matrix, concept reports, and test reports.

   6. (6) Designing to mission requirements. The student generates conceptual aircraft solutions to meet a set of given requirements. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) analyze given mission requirements such as altitude, speed, and payload to derive sub-requirements;
      2. (B) generate and document additional sub-requirements for the mission considering various factors such as maintainability, producibility, operational cost, and safety;
      3. (C) generate and document conceptual aircraft solutions to address mission and sub-requirements;
      4. (D) classify the generated conceptual aircraft solutions into appropriate categories such as single-engine land (SEL), gyroplane, powered-lift, and glider using the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) classification system;
      5. (E) select, justify, and document a conceptual solution that addresses the mission and sub-requirements; and
      6. (F) create a model such as a graph or matrix that displays the relationships between the documented requirements.

   7. (7) Managing aerospace engineering projects. The student applies project management techniques to aerospace projects. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) generate a project plan that includes time, deliverable, and cost estimates;
      2. (B) review and update periodically a project plan according to a stage gate process;
      3. (C) document and execute test plans to evaluate prototypes against requirements;
      4. (D) justify and present design choices through periodic design reviews; and
      5. (E) generate a final design report with an executive summary, a body with problem and solution descriptions, and appendices with additional relevant information such as the design process used, requirements compliance matrix, concept reports, and test reports.

   8. (8) Prototyping aerospace vehicles. The student creates a prototype to address a set of mission requirements. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) generate a list of design parameters based on the mission and sub-requirements;
      2. (B) generate and document design concepts to address design parameters;
      3. (C) use appropriate tools such as decision matrices, pro-con lists, and pair-wise comparison to evaluate, downselect, and justify design concepts to prototype;
      4. (D) create and document prototypes to test, validate, and modify design concepts;
      5. (E) use appropriate tools such as decision matrices, pro-con lists, and pair-wise comparison to evaluate, downselect, and justify a prototype to develop as the solution;
      6. (F) evaluate a prototype to identify areas of improvement for iteration;
      7. (G) test, evaluate, and document performance of the revised prototype in meeting project requirements; and
      8. (H) compose and present a project debrief, including lessons learned.

   9. (9) Atmospheric flight. The student relates the three axes of an aircraft, the four forces of flight, and the components used for stability and control. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) research and discuss ways to control motion about the three axes;
      2. (B) calculate and explain changes in motion due to the four forces acting on aircraft during flight;
      3. (C) explain why loads acting on aircraft change during different flight scenarios;
      4. (D) draw and calculate the forces of flight for a straight and level flight and a level banked turn; and
      5. (E) describe which aircraft components control and provide stability with respect to the six degrees of freedom.

   10. (10) Lift and drag. The student explains how lift and drag are generated by an aircraft and how they change during flight. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) explain the lift equation and illustrate the relationships between its variables;
       2. (B) explain the drag equation and illustrate the relationships between its variables;
       3. (C) calculate the changes to lift and drag based on changes to atmospheric conditions such as temperature, density, and pressure;
       4. (D) describe how aircraft control surfaces, including leading edge flaps, trailing edge flaps, ailerons, and spoilers, influence lift;
       5. (E) describe how aircraft control surfaces, including leading edge flaps, trailing edge flaps, ailerons, and spoilers, influence drag;
       6. (F) define and discuss how the stall angle and stall speed can be changed; and
       7. (G) research and present contemporary developments reducing drag such as winglets, boundary layer control, and surface effects.

   11. (11) Weight and balance. The student recognizes that components have mass, weight, and location resulting in moments that are balanced by control surfaces. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) calculate an aircraft's estimated center of gravity throughout a mission profile considering factors such as fuel consumption, payload, and passengers;
       2. (B) estimate the location of an aircraft's center of pressure;
       3. (C) calculate the static margin throughout a flight profile to verify positive stability margin;
       4. (D) generate and document solutions to improve positive static stability in the event of a negative stability margin; and
       5. (E) revise and document static margin calculations reflecting proposed solutions.

   12. (12) Propulsion. The student evaluates various propulsion solutions to downselect the solutions to meet mission requirements. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) evaluate and select a propulsion solution that meets requirements such as piston, jet, turboprop, and rocket;
       2. (B) evaluate and select the number of engines to meet mission and sub-requirements; and
       3. (C) calculate propulsion weight of the selected solution to meet mission and sub-requirements.

   13. (13) Material selection. The student evaluates various materials to meet mission and sub-requirements. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) analyze component material requirements to select materials that meets mission and sub-requirements; and
       2. (B) document the justification for the materials selected to meet component requirements.

   14. (14) Aerospace structures. The student evaluates and selects structure types to meet mission and sub-requirements. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) analyze structural requirements to select structure types that meets mission and sub-requirements; and
       2. (B) document the justification for the structure types selected to meet structural requirements.

   15. (15) Navigation. The student defines and explains types of navigation used for flight. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) explain dead reckoning navigation using an aeronautical chart, compass, clock, and airspeed indicator;
       2. (B) explain navigation using radio radials such as Automatic Direction Finder (ADF) and VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR);
       3. (C) explain navigation using an Inertial Navigation System (INS); and
       4. (D) explain navigation using Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

Source Note:The provisions of this §127.414 adopted to be effective August 1, 2025, 50 TexReg 4876.