Education Through Aviation
Bill Pritchett | [email protected]
“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” — Thomas Jefferson
THE DESIRE TO LEARN is the catalyst for most true understanding. Curiosity didn't kill the cat—curiosity created a learning environment for the cat. As modelers, we tend to be the curious, inventive, and creative people who learn. We learn from an internal instinct to recognize the value of knowledge and the place it holds in our understanding of all things aviation.
Last month I wrote about the value of clubs and the bridge a club can create to the community, and from the community to the flightline. This month I want to discuss the role of education in your club.
I would guess that most clubs consider training new modelers, and possibly occasional educational outreach to a local school, as their educational components. I applaud those efforts, and yet offer the following suggestion.
Engaging club membership educationally
How do you engage your club membership educationally? There are countless lessons learned every time we go to the field and talk with other fliers. Have you considered a formal schedule of instruction—well planned and advertised—to be delivered at upcoming club meetings? If you don't think it's necessary, rewarding, or of interest to your members, refer to this month's quote.
Be warned—most people enjoy the one-hour-maximum meeting. Plan the itinerary of your meeting, cover the usual necessary business items as quickly as possible, and make sure it takes no more than 30 minutes. Then have a presentation that lasts about 30 minutes covering any subject you think members of your club are curious about.
Seek out subject-matter experts in your area. Use technology to avoid travel; set up a webinar for your meeting. Keep it moving, interesting, and fun!
Which subjects? What materials? Don't try to do everything yourself—ask the members of your club two questions:
- What would you like to learn?
- What would you like to teach?
I recall being president of a large club and looking forward to the meeting that had a moment of learning scheduled: a guest speaker, a demonstration—anything I thought members would enjoy. Meetings without programming were painful.
If you run out of ideas, look to the past. How many of your club members know how to MonoKote? Has it become a lost art with newer members? Probably.
If you're aware of something being built, ask the builder to bring it in and show basic building techniques. It might be new to some!
ARFs? Sure. Have a couple in various stages of assembly brought to the meeting and discuss some of the unique things we need to do to make sure an airplane built by someone else is truly airworthy. Sometimes a simple “Show and Tell” session from someone with a recently finished airplane is a great presentation and will stimulate good Q&A. Meetings are dreadful—unless they're fun!
Look around your membership and chances are there's someone willing to take on the responsibility of meeting programmer or whatever title you choose—club educator is a great title. Maybe you already have an educator among your members. Give it some thought. Most of the best lessons I've learned in model aviation have been from the people I fly with. The AMA is fortunate to have publications, online information, industry partners, and countless other resources. Don't forget the person in the folding chair next to you.
Assistance and outreach
To the many of you who have taken the time to drop an email my way, thanks. I always enjoy hearing from everyone, and if you ever need assistance with something I've written about or wonder about, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will answer!
It would be a pleasure to assist an individual or a club putting together a MASC, TAG, CAP, or any type of outreach or program. Heck, I'll even make up some programming for your upcoming winter club meetings!
Acknowledgments — 75th Anniversary Celebration
I would like to revisit my column from the October 2011 edition of Model Aviation, in which I named people who stepped up to help make the 75th Anniversary Celebration a special moment at the International Aeromodeling Center. I'm sure I left off more than a few, but I want to be sure and mention:
- Shawn Grubbs, Director of Membership — organized all volunteers, who were critical to our success.
- Ilona Maine, Director of Safety and Member Benefits — took responsibility for the workshops and presentations in the Claude McCullough Education Facility in our museum. The programs were well attended and well organized.
- Travis McGinnis and Frank Granell — ran a busy flightline. Many modelers know what a challenge the flightline can be; Travis and Frank were absolutely the best.
For all that everyone did and continues to do, thanks!
Fly and have fun!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
