Camelot Knight Flyers
by Moses Alicea and Jay Smith
Starting a school club might be easier than you think. The Camelot Knight Flyers at Camelot Elementary School in Orlando, Florida, is a great example of a parent-and-teacher partnership that benefits students and introduces them to modeling in a positive way.
This award-winning club, made up of fourth- and fifth-grade students, is sponsored by Camelot Elementary science lab teacher Richard Ellenburg and longtime modeler and pilot Moses Alicea.
How They Did It
The club received funding through educational grants from the Air Force Association and a local foundation. Materials were purchased at cost from Millennium RC, and generous donations—airplanes and a computer flight simulator—were provided by Colonial Photo and Hobby in Orlando.
The sponsors purchased and built:
- Two Slow Stick balsa models from Millennium RC
- A GWS Slow Stick
- Two Easy Star powered gliders
- A Multiplex Easy Cub
- A Multiplex Fun Cub
They have scratch-built four balsa gliders with 2-foot wingspans that competed in the National Engineers Week student competition called See Joe Go.
The club acquired a Spektrum DX6i and four Spektrum DX5e transmitters. Training is done on three RealFlight Basic Flight Simulators. All of the airplanes are set up to be powered using the same size three-cell battery, and a large number of batteries are kept charged and ready to use.
Club Activities
#### See Joe Go See Joe Go is a glider-building competition held during National Engineering Week. The contest is designed for middle school and high school students. Gliders are scratch-built and launched by rubber bands on a table; the glider that travels the farthest wins.
In 2011, the Camelot Knight Flyers were invited by Lockheed Martin to compete—the only elementary school to do so. Building and flying against much older students, the group swept the competition, taking first, second, and third places.
#### Pilot License The Pilot License program is designed for students to gain expertise and flight time. Students must pass a series of tests to earn a pilot license, which provides access to flight time. Requirements include:
- Correctly identify parts of an airplane
- Use a computer simulator to take off
- Circle the field and land a basic model two times in a row (two consecutive successful landings is considered basic mastery)
- Demonstrate the motion of an airplane (unpowered) with a transmitter: flying away from and toward the student, and inverted in both directions
The pilot license is the first step. A buddy-box system is used for flying, and the pilot license experience is important to hands-on learning.
#### The Garden Party The Garden Party is an annual spring event in which the entire school is invited to visit the science lab. The aeronautics students explain their program and fly airplanes on the physical education field. More than 300 families have attended in past years.
About the Sponsors
Moses Alicea is a parent volunteer who has met twice a week, every week, for two years with the clubs. Moses has been building and flying RC airplanes for more than 30 years. He was the 2010 Camelot Volunteer of the Year and was first runner-up in 2011. The program would not exist without Moses. He is the primary flier who operates the buddy box and has used his connections in the Central Florida RC community to get materials donated or provided at cost.
Moses serves as the primary instructor for all airplane builds and has shared the costs involved in necessary purchases. In his spare time he competes across the southeast in RC events and flies ultralight aircraft. A gifted teacher, Moses connects well with the students.
Richard Ellenburg has been teaching science for most of his 30-plus-year career. He was recognized as the 2008 Florida Teacher of the Year. Richard is a Smithsonian Ambassador and has spent time behind the scenes with the Wright Flyer. As a Honeywell Educator, he spent a week in Huntsville, Alabama, at Space Camp. He was an author of Florida's new science standards and has conducted science experiments while flying in zero gravity.
Richard is a lifelong model rocket builder and is an eager novice RC pilot.
— Moses Alicea [email protected]
— Jay Smith [email protected]
SOURCES:
- Millennium RC
(407) 208-9745 www.millenniumrc.com
- Colonial Photo and Hobby
(800) 841-1485 www.colonialphotohobby.com
- GWS USA
(909) 594-4979 www.gwsus.com
- Multiplex
(858) 748-6948 www.multiplexusa.com
- Spektrum
(800) 338-4639 www.spektrumrc.com
- RealFlight
(800) 637-7660 www.realflight.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
