District III-2011/08
Event Summary
The Johnstown RC Club supported a weekend Camporee for Boy Scouts at the local airport. Approximately 155 Scouts attended, and with leaders and instructors the total group was about 250. Fourteen Boy Scout troops from the greater Johnstown area participated. The Scouts camped on the airport grounds for two nights.
Activities and instruction
The Scouts moved through 10 instructional sections on Saturday to complete the requirements for the Aviation Merit Badge. Subjects covered included:
- Aerodynamics
- Radio-controlled models
- Flight instruments
- Flight planning
- Airplane preflight
- Building airplanes
- Flying paper model airplanes
- Control tower tour
- Radar control
- Career opportunities
Additional instruction and activities:
- The Johnstown RC Club provided the bulk of the training.
- Bruce, Sam, Caleb, and Cliff helped the Scouts build and fly plastic picnic-plate airplanes.
- Club member Al Stein taught a class on weather as it pertains to aviation.
- Eighty Scouts took airplane rides in a four-seat Cessna 172.
- All attending Scouts earned the Aviation Merit Badge.
Aircraft and demonstrations
A variety of aircraft were on display or active during the weekend:
- Commuter aircraft
- Apache and Black Hawk helicopters
- A C-130 that performed several low fly-bys and touch-and-goes
- Several small, privately owned airplanes
Mountain Top Technologies provided a private airplane for individual rides.
Support and logistics
- The Scouts received T-shirts with the official Camporee emblem.
- Lunches on Saturday were provided by Subway, Custom Cakes, and Galliker’s Dairy.
- The local airport authority cooperated by allowing the Scouts to camp on the airport grounds and giving them unprecedented access to airport facilities.
Context and outcome
This event was the final Camporee for the Penns Woods Council, which will merge with the Greater Pittsburgh Council later this summer. The weekend went well, the rain held off, and the event was completed without a hitch. Participants and organizers alike were well satisfied.
Acknowledgments
- The Johnstown RC Club’s webmaster, Roger Luther, assisted in many ways.
- Fifteen other club members volunteered to help during the weekend.
- Special thanks to Roger Luther for providing the information used in this report.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
