Gleaning From the Past

My project to evaluate from the past was Phil Durnford's Aviation Project from 2010. He had what seemed a very fun and exciting project- learning to fly a plane,

Reading his journal was very easy, because it was typed, fairly interesting, and to-the-point. He posted regularly, and had many journal entries. The entries themselves showed great evidence of research from many different sources- this guy put a lot of time into reading his books and passing his level tests to earn the right to sit in the cockpit and learn to fly. The entries included diagrams and other images, however some of the entries seemed to repeat themselves somewhat, as he described a couple different times the different kinds of visual mishaps that pilots may have and other technical issues. I loved his description of his first flight- it sounded incredible.  He also seemed to be fairly skilled at goal setting, and managed to meet his own mini-deadlines most of the time.

What I enjoyed most about his journal was his display of conviction and passion. He was very enthused about flying a plane, and worked very hard to achieve his goal. He spoke of his family history in aviation, and his plans to join the Air Force. I wonder if he continued to pursue flying.

Overall I would give his project 45/50 points for the narrative and research components. His hands-on and book research, combined with the time he clearly spent on this project were phenomenal. The only reason why I would take off five points is the need for a little development in some of his entries, particularly a couple of his reviews of books and movies, and he could have paid a little more attention to conventions and spelling, however nothing interfered with comprehension. I also would have liked his writing to have been a little less plain- kind of like mashed potatoes. If you put too much salt on them they're repulsive, but not enough salt can make them bland and also unappetizing. Now don't get me wrong- his mashed potatoes, I mean writing- wasn't repulsive at all, but for my tastes it could have used just a dash more of salt.