AMA News: District I - 2008/02
Sean Clancey's report
Sean Clancey, the South Shore RC Club secretary and newsletter editor, sent the following inspirational report and pictures.
You can be sure that roughly 100 Cub Scouts currently have a new item at the top of their Christmas and Chanukah lists! Thanks to Chris D’Arpino, they’ll be asking for their very own RC aircraft.
In an age where video games, organized sports, and other after-school activities take up the majority of our children’s time and attention, RC has a lot of competition. That’s where we can either give up and see our hobby fall into decline, or dig in and help it grow!
Lucky for us, we have a very determined member fueled only by his desire to see smiles on children’s faces. Chris D’Arpino got the idea for an educational program from another club that was doing something similar. The club is called the Mercer County Radio Control Society and is located in Hightstown, New Jersey. The club developed a detailed ground school complete with PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and lectures. The director of the program, David Vale, was even kind enough to share the materials with Chris to give him a starting point.
Chris adapted this program for his own use and tried it out for the first time in San Diego, California, in front of throngs of eager Scouts at a jamboree. His presentation and flight demos were so successful that he sought to “bring it home” to Massachusetts.
On Friday, November 16, Cub Scouts from several different local packs got the opportunity to witness Chris’ presentation firsthand. Have you ever seen a 7–12-year-old quietly listen to someone speak for 25 minutes? Before you all write letters requesting Chris’ services, know that you too can accomplish this daring feat. You need only involve model aviation in the discussion!
“You see,” said D’Arpino, “before when I told you anyone can fly RC, I really meant it.” On the screen behind him was a giant picture of himself as giddy as a schoolboy on the day he completed his first solo flight. Giggles and applause followed.
The children were released from their meeting and proceeded to spend the next 40 minutes swarming our tables where we had several airplanes on static display. As the boys soaked up knowledge from our volunteers, a door prize was drawn. Courtesy of our president, Zahoor Bajwa, a lucky boy and his dad took home a really nice ARF.
Tiffany Ring brought along her Kadet trainer and allowed the boys to move the sticks on the transmitter to see how the controls functioned. They looked inside and saw the small servos working the pushrods that moved the control surfaces. One Scout asked Tiffany if she ever flew her airplane. Tiffany proudly responded yes, assuring them that even girls fly!
Zahoor brought along a beautiful Hawker Hurricane and a large helicopter that had everyone drooling and asking questions. However, the best gadget he brought was his laptop, complete with RealFlight G3.5. There was a line 100 yards long for the entire night. “You get to fly until you crash ... ooh that was a big one ... Next!” Baj would say. At 9 p.m. mothers and fathers had to peel their children away from the computer screen.
Alex Fedele also brought two airplanes—a P-47 and a fun-fly aircraft—which the kids thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you to everyone who participated! This was certainly a smashing success. Chris really put together a great presentation which was well thought out, thorough, and geared perfectly for this audience.
Why not get your club involved in introducing others to our sport? The winter months are the best time for indoor aeromodeling presentations or demonstrations.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
