AMA News Flying Site Assistance - 2007/10
Mayor Frank Tower of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, upon flying solo and being welcomed to the pilot ranks, stated, "It's a passion. When you get people who are all passionate about this same thing, all together—it's fantastic!" Isn't this model aviation? I believe it is.
I attended the Mercer County Radio Control Society's (MCRCS) Giant Scale fly-in in Imlaystown, New Jersey, on Memorial Day weekend. This annual event benefits the Sunshine Foundation. I was pleased to meet club member C. David Vale, who described a ground school he had completed for the club to promote RC aeromodeling. I asked him to write about it for sharing.
Ground school overview
David Vale organized a public ground school to introduce the community to RC aeromodeling. The program consisted of three two-hour classes (a total of six hours) taught at three branches of the Mercer County Library. The classes provided students an opportunity to become familiar with the sport and prepare to fly models of their own.
Dave and a faculty of 12 instructors developed curricula covering seven topic areas. The topics included:
- An overview of RC modeling
- Basic aerodynamics
- Radio-control systems
- Engines and motors
- How to build a model
- Preparation for the first flight
Instructors devoted about an hour of group discussion to each topic and significantly more time to individual instruction. The presentations were documented in "class notes," a collection of written material covering everything the instructors intended to say in class. More than 150 pictures and diagrams supplemented the notes. Classes were conducted using PowerPoint slides of the pictures and diagrams, plus demonstrations with physical models and equipment. The slides and class notes are available on the club's website: www.mcrcs.com.
Planning and publicity
David first proposed the ground school to the MCRCS Board of Directors and then to the club membership, receiving favorable responses. He then proposed the program to Mercer County Library System Executive Director Ellen Brown, who responded, "It would be a wonderful program for the library to host."
Dave and Ellen worked together to identify library branches with available meeting facilities and settled on three locations. Dave facilitated publicity in the local newspapers, and Ellen arranged publicity through the library system, including posters, the library website, and cards distributed at circulation desks.
Goals
When proposing the ground school, David Vale listed three goals:
- To raise awareness of radio-control modeling in the community and promote it as a worthy sport.
- To identify and attract enthusiastic new participants to join the club.
- To increase attendance at the club's revenue-producing events through free media coverage of the ground school.
Results and outcomes
Regarding publicity, 10 articles about the ground school and related club activities were published in local newspapers during the two months encompassing the classes. Numerous posters were displayed in local schools, and cards advertising the classes were distributed by the Mercer County Library System. A feature article that ran in two local publications highlighted club member Keith Zimmerly with his 16-foot-wingspan Jenny; both appeared prominently on the cover of one publication.
It is too early to tell how many graduates will join the club, but several have been spotted at the field. At least five graduates have taken intro flights with club instructors, and at least one has purchased an airplane. Although the club has not historically counted attendees at events, it appeared that more families attended the fly-in than in past years, a good sign that the event was attracting more of the general public.
This year's ground school program consisted solely of classroom training and was designed to have graduates ready to join a club, build a model, and start flying. A total of 53 students attended the three sessions; 32 finished the third session.
Although planning for programs such as this moves slowly during flying season, informal discussions are already underway about how the program can be improved and expanded for next year.
— D.V.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
