This month I would like to illustrate some different ways we can promote our model aviation passion by featuring some ideas that you may not have thought of. Here is what the Blue & Gray Miniature Aircraft Squadron of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, recently did to promote model aviation to a group you may not have considered.
The club was invited to participate in a Girl Scout Camporee held at Camp Happy Valley in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. The camporee was attended by various Girl Scout troops composed of Daisies, Brownies, and Girl Scouts from the council. The camporee theme was Taking Flight and all activities throughout the camporee involved aviation. Members of the Blue and Gray introduced the girls to model aviation and displayed various models.
Members who attended were Mike Brown, Kyle Brown, Tom Krichten, Greg Zirk, Matt Brodbeck, and Mark Brodbeck. Mike briefly spoke about the Gettysburg club and the AMA. He explained transmitters and demonstrated the basic controls of the transmitter and airplanes. Kyle Brown put on a 3-D flight demonstration with a micro Extra and assisted the girls with one of two flight simulators the members brought.
Tom and Greg also assisted the girls with the flight simulators. Matt and Mark demonstrated how retractable landing gear and flaps worked on their P-51 Mustang.
Afterwards, the girls presented the members with two thank-you cards and two gift baskets with Girl Scout cookies inside. Those delicious cookies were devoured after the event was over.
Another idea was submitted by Chris Brown, club president of the Seneca Highlands Aero Radio Kontrol Society (SHARKS) club located in Eldred, Pennsylvania.
“On June 1, our club served as host to Boy Scout Troop 499 out of Bradford, Pennsylvania. At this event, the Scouts put on a model rocket activity to enable members to attain their Space Exploration Merit Badge.
“Gary Fitch, AMA’s executive vice president, attended and offered his assistance and also brought along a flight simulator for the Scouts to try out before actually having some RC flight experience through use of a buddy box. SHARKS members were present to answer any questions about the hobby and put on several flight demonstrations.”
And finally, how about mixing hobbies as did Bob Haglock of the St.Clairsville RC Flyers in Ohio? Bob wrote”
“The Wheeling Ohio County Airport held its annual Transportation Day. This is a car show combined with full-scale airplanes. There were more than 325 cars and trucks in the show.
“When I do a car show at an airport, I always display an RC model in the back of my 67 Chevy truck that I built. This year I had an RC static display at the airport and passed out all of my old MA magazines to the kids. I had a blast it was a good plug for our hobby. I gave several demonstrations on how the planes worked and would get volunteers to hold up the Cessna 310 to demonstrate the retractable gear. People thought that was really something.”
As you can see from these examples there are many nontraditional ways that we can use to attract new people to our hobby. Although these people may not become involved immediately, you may spark an interest that sometime later in their life might help model aviation continue to grow.
Until next month, go fly and have fun!
