Getting Middle School and High School Students involved

[Trevor Janz]

Jeff Skiles, Brian O'Lena and I visited the Academy of Model Aeronautics in Muncie Indiana a few weeks ago. They have over 2,000 chapters nationwide and most likely one in your back door.

I would highly encourage your chapter to reach out and schedule a time to meet wtih your local AMA Chapter and start inviting Middle School and High School kids to help build RC aircraft from scratch...to then eventually lead to building Full Scale Aircraft.

The AMA Chapter in your area can set up several RC aircraft to fly with dual boxes with the kids that are waiting to get their Young Eagle Flight.

Here is their website: www.modelaircraft.org

This is an excellent way to get more Youth involved in your chapter.

Blue skies!

[Chris In Marshfield]

For the last two years, members of our Medford, WI contingent of EAA992 hold an Aviation Mini-Course at the Medford Middle School, which consists of aviation education on several levels, as well as a trip to the EAA Museum in Oshkosh. We also had at least one member of the local RC flying clubs attend, if I recall. There are dozens of mini-courses held at the middle school, highlighting many different vocations. The first year we had something like 13 students in our particular program, I believe. The second year, the word got around, and we filled up a class twice that large in no time flat. It's become a popular event at the Medford Middle School, and I expect that we'll have a larger group this year if we allow it to be so.

I didn't coordinate this event since I live out of that area, but I can put you in touch with the person who did. We think it was extremely successful. So much so that the principal of the middle school attended one of our chapter meetings and told us how much the kids really enjoyed the program and were very motivated about the course curriculum.

During the first course, a couple of the students thought it was going to be a "skate" class, and that they'd be able to wander off and do as they pleased. They were quick to learn that, first, one of our instructors is a retired high school teacher, and recognized and took control of that situation very quickly! Second, once they became engaged with the program, they became quite active with the class.

So, in the grand scheme of getting kids involved in aviation, this is a great first step!

Best regards,
Chris

Christopher Owens
President, EAA Chapter 992
Marshfield, WI

[Trevor Janz]

Hello Chris! That is fantastic!

I would like to feature this in ChapterGram. If you could put me in touch with the person(s) that put that together...I would appreciate it.

Thanks for letting us know about this great program to reach out to Middle School kids.

Trevor

[alcharlie65]

Trevor,

When I was teaching at our community college, we started something called the "8th Grade Institute". Graduating 8the graders were invited to the college to view first hand the various programs and career opportunities available to them. When I retired and moved to Alabama, I tried something similar with the 8th graders here. It worked pretty good. I called the school counselor, explained the Young Eagles program and used Jeff's video to get their interest. We presented it to 180 students. Out of that group we had 0ver 60 that signed up for a first flight. It just takes a little work.

Dave Miller
President
EAA chapter 1358

[2VW]

Thank Trevor I will look into this in my area Puyallup, WA
KPLU

[Trevor Janz]

Thank you for the photos and the feedback! Much appreciated.

[1600vw]

Trevor:

I hope this works out great. We need this in our schools. But when they are cutting every program in school not sure it will happen.

Now if you could make it where they could.... kick, pass, or hit that airplane and call it a sport...You have it made.

[gbrasch]

Trevor, for several years I flew as a volunteer kids here in Tucson with a program called Wright Flight. They had to "work for" their flight by taking a class in school on aviation (and passing it). It is a great program, I just ran out of time doing it after flying more that 100 kids.

I am also interested in getting kids involved with homebuilding and flyng RV's through my website. If you know of any parents or kids that may be interested, I can start a separate forum for them. Anyone interested can email me at gbrasch@RVairspace.com Lets get these kids involved! Glenn

[Victor Bravo]

I have the solution for the "cost" of this model building idea... good old reliable simple cheap FREE FLIGHT MODELS. There are still educational and fun model airplane kits that can be bought for five or ten dollars.

There is a small but thriving "cottage industry" offering all sorts of "old-school" free flight models. My friend Merrill Brady (whose company is MM Glidertech here in the LA area), used to sell a basic hand launch glider kit for $1.00 as a low cost introduction to get kids involved. If this would now have to be sold for $2 or $3, it would still be the cheapest way to get a kid interested and learning about airplanes.

If you make a list of the pilots who flew in WW2, and you make a list of the engineers who put us on the moon, and you make a list of the engineers who gave us a re-usable spaceship...

And you add to this list the guy who designed and built all of the airplanes that flew around the world nonstop, and the guy who designed and built the first working civilian spaceship,

You will have in your hands a list of people who got interested in aviation by building and flying inexpensive free flight and other model airplanes.

And in case you are not absolutely convinced that small inexpensive free flight models are truly relevant to designing and building airplanes today, take a look at the how the aforementioned designer brings that civilian spaceship back to Earth without burning up or tumbling out of control. It's a design feature that was invented for returning rubber band powered and glider free flight models back to Earth without damage some 80+ years ago.

[1600vw]

I have the solution for the "cost" of this model building idea... good old reliable simple cheap FREE FLIGHT MODELS. There are still educational and fun model airplane kits that can be bought for five or ten dollars.

There is a small but thriving "cottage industry" offering all sorts of "old-school" free flight models. My friend Merrill Brady (whose company is MM Glidertech here in the LA area), used to sell a basic hand launch glider kit for $1.00 as a low cost introduction to get kids involved. If this would now have to be sold for $2 or $3, it would still be the cheapest way to get a kid interested and learning about airplanes.

If you make a list of the pilots who flew in WW2, and you make a list of the engineers who put us on the moon, and you make a list of the engineers who gave us a re-usable spaceship...

And you add to this list the guy who designed and built all of the airplanes that flew around the world nonstop, and the guy who designed and built the first working civilian spaceship,

You will have in your hands a list of people who got interested in aviation by building and flying inexpensive free flight and other model airplanes.

And in case you are not absolutely convinced that small inexpensive free flight models are truly relevant to designing and building airplanes today, take a look at the how the aforementioned designer brings that civilian spaceship back to Earth without burning up or tumbling out of control. It's a design feature that was invented for returning rubber band powered and glider free flight models back to Earth without damage some 80+ years ago.

At the MidWest Fly-in held here in Edinburgh IL. every year, they give these " Free Flight " Airplanes to all the kids. They build them on site during the fly-in. Then the kids see who's model will fly the farthest. The winner gets a price. All the kids walk away like a winner for they get to keep their airplanes. The sad part, the air park where this is held is on the way out. The owner can not make the money needed to keep it open as an airpark. So to keep from loosing his property, he has installed a dirt go kart race track. He has had such success I really believe he will be closing down the airpark and plowing up the runway for mulitiple race tracks with stands. I really believe within a year this will happen. I could be wrong, time will tell.

I have tried and tried to do something to bring kids or anyone into the lite site of aviation in my area...I gave up....