District I - 2010/08
On April 24, 2010, the Boys & Girls Club of Central Massachusetts held its annual Family Day at its headquarters in Leominster, Massachusetts. The theme this year was aviation and space. Six presenters exhibited items or gave talks for the children and their families to enjoy.
Presenters and exhibits
- AMA members Colin Towers and Mike Turocy (Quinapoxit Model Flying Club)
- Colin brought a 1/4-scale Piper Cub and a giant-scale P-47 to exhibit. He also set up a RealFlight simulator with a model of his Cub for attendees to try RC flying.
- Mike performed demonstration flights with nitro and electric helicopters, which were a big hit. Many visitors enjoyed the display and asked questions about RC aircraft, clubs, and model flying.
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute — Moonraker robot
- The award-winning Moonraker robot won a $500,000 NASA engineering competition by navigating a moon-like surface, collecting soil, and delivering the most soil into a bin. This demonstrated how a robot could process natural resources on the moon.
- One Giant Leap Foundation
- Exhibited spaceflight artifacts and memorabilia. The foundation promotes space exploration, math, and science in schools.
- Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) member pilots
- Introduced the Young Eagles program, which gives interested young people ages 8–17 an opportunity to learn about flying and receive a free 15-minute airplane flight with an EAA pilot.
- Aldrich Astronomical Society
- Amateur astronomers gave talks on astronomy, space science, observational equipment, and telescopes.
- Col. Charles Precourt (retired Air Force), four-time Space Shuttle commander
- Arrived in a 1947 Bell helicopter and opened his talk with, “What weighs five million pounds and is faster than a speeding bullet? It’s the space shuttle, launching itself free of the gravitational pull of Earth.”
- He gave parents and kids a sense of what it’s like to fly, work, and live in space.
Community impact
The Quinapoxit Model Flying Club members recognize the importance of participating in events that introduce their club and the sport of aeromodeling to children and families in the local community. Partnered community activities like this often result in new AMA members and support for flying site acquisition and retention.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
