District IV Report - 2009/10
Macon Aero Modelers (MAM) — Picnic and Scout Outreach
The Macon Aero Modelers (MAM) club in Otto, North Carolina, held a picnic and fun-fly for its members on Saturday, May 23. This year the event included members of Franklin Cub Scout Pack 263, who were invited to join the fun.
Bill Duncan and Lou Vitale attended the Scout meeting during the week and provided instruction about the principles of flight, a discussion of the Wright brothers and their contributions to powered flight, and answered the Scouts' questions. They used an electric J-3 Cub, a Yak foamy, and a helicopter as demonstrators. This introduction prepared the boys and helped them earn Cub Scout credits.
On Saturday, eight parents and 15 Scouts and their siblings joined MAM members and their families—bringing total attendance to more than 50 people. The Scouts and their parents watched club members fly a variety of aircraft in the morning.
Event highlights:
- Morning demonstrations and flying by club members.
- After lunch, Scouts assembled an AMA balsa Barnstormer Monoplane with help from club members and parents.
- Scouts lined up on the centerline of the grass runway, wound the rubber-band-powered motors, and launched their planes.
- The Scout with the best flight received an MAM T-shirt.
Scoutmaster Charlie Vargas expressed his thanks: "A great big thank-you goes out to the Macon Aero Modelers for inviting us to the Spring Fun Fly-In. The Scouts had an awesome time!"
Virginia Aeromodelers Club of Bedford County — 21st Century Learning Centers Partnership
Sharon Slingerland, 21st Century Grant Site Coordinator in Moneta, Virginia, sent a photo of members of the Virginia Aeromodelers Club of Bedford County.
In cooperation with the 21st Century Learning Centers Grant, the club is holding classes with Moneta Elementary students to teach the fundamentals of flying model airplanes and helicopters. Club members demonstrate model flying using their own models, and the students build small models and practice using computer flight simulators.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
