Education Through Aviation - 2010/12

166 MODEL AVIATION
I FIND IT DIFFICULT to argue with
Walt. My experience in the classroom
always pointed toward engaging and
entertaining kids with the activities
presented to them. During the course of
those activities I would often sneak up on
them and without them knowing it, teach
them something!
That’s the beauty of our department’s
logo and theme: Education Through
Aviation. You will find it difficult to find
many people who don’t like things that fly.
Maybe the old black-and-white movies of
guys jumping off of buildings with feather
wings really tell us a bigger story …
Man has always dreamed of flying. It is
the ultimate freedom. Watch a bird—here in
the Midwest, a beautiful Red Hawk—soaring
effortlessly, seemingly forever. Wouldn’t that
be fun?
So what does this have to do with
anything? It has to do with the teacher within
us. The next time you go flying, take the
opportunity to ask someone if he or she
would like to try it. You’ll be amazed at how
many want to, but hesitate to ask.
Most visitors to the field ask how far it
goes, how high it will fly, what is the cost,
etc. What they’re really asking is if they
could give it a try. Be positive, patient, and
thorough in a brief ground school.
I usually just have them put their thumbs
on top of mine for a brief flight. It’s
important that they realize how minute the
control deflections are on the transmitter.
Haven’t most of us seen a near or total
disaster that was a result of overcontrolling
the aircraft?
After that flight, if you have one (I
always carry one), hook up a buddy box and
give the person a shot at it. With a calm,
quiet voice, suggest small things here and
there. Avoid the temptation to tell this
potential new modeler everything you know
about flying model aircraft in the first three
minutes of his or her first attempt!
Give the person just enough time to have
some idea of what the ultimate 3-D video
game feels like. Tell him or her to imagine
being inside the aircraft. I never talk about
left or right. I say, “Put yourself inside the
plane.” Allow enough time for him or her to
have some success.
Land the airplane and show the person
through your conversation, expressions, and
body language just how much fun you just
had sharing your favorite pastime.
Enthusiasm really is contagious.
Without asking, fuel up and take off
again; don’t ask if he or she would like to try
it again. You know the answer to that! You
will have entertained someone and that
person will have learned, without discussing
it—or heaven forbid, reading about it—
transmitter control movement and control
surface deflection; effect of thrust and pitch
on attitude and altitude; why the nose drops
in a turn; and finally, why you like doing this
so much!
I wrote last month about how fortunate we
are to have Dr. Gordon Schimmel as a part of
the AMA’s educational team. He and I have
been exchanging e-mails concerning why we
build model airplanes. What he wrote in our
last exchange is something all should read:
“Building and flying model airplanes has
been a gateway to aviation for legions of
aviators and engineers from Wilbur and
Orville Wright, who invented the first
controlled, powered, man-carrying flying
machine to present-day inventors and pilots
such as Burt Rutan, Paul MacCready, and
five-time space shuttle Commander Robert
‘Hoot’ Gibson.
“Almost every aeronautical principle and
mechanical device keeping full-scale aircraft
aloft can be found in a model airplane. The
hands-on, practical nature of the hobby
develops an in-depth understanding of how
thrust must overcome drag to create lift,
while maintaining control.
“Electric motors, piston and turbine
engines operate within many of the same
parameters as their full-scale counterparts. In
addition, control surfaces must be aligned and
properly coordinated and electronics must be
precisely installed and maintained to enable
safe and efficient flight.
“Throughout aviation history and up to
the present day, models have been and
continue to be used as proof-of-concept
vehicles in full-scale aircraft design.
Modeling is essential to math, science, and
engineering, in fact, to all creative thinking.
The model is metaphor, a way of
understanding cause and effect, a context, an
outcome.
“A theoretical construct in math that
opens new understanding of the natural
world, a biochemical representation that leads
to new cures for disease, a three-dimensional
representation of an aircraft to fly on Mars—
all begin as models in the mind, an essential
step in the creative process that provides
scaffolds to understanding.
“Model-building activities enable students
to develop ‘spatial intelligence’ and
experience the serendipity that begins with
trial and error, tempered by data collection
and thoughtful reflection, leading to insight
and discovery. Building and flying model
aircraft are ‘hands-on’ experiences to
motivate and inspire a future generation of
problem-solvers and inventors, opening doors
to careers in aviation, while helping them
become active participants as citizens in a
complex and fast-changing world.”
Thanks, Gordon. If you’re like me,
reading that reminds me that I’ve experienced
about all of it. I just didn’t know it. While
we’re being entertained, sometimes education
will just sneak up on us.
As we enter the holiday season, give the gift
of Education Through Aviation!
Fly and have fun!
AMA News
Announcements, news, and information from the
Academy of Model Aeronautics and the elected district representatives.
Education Through Aviation Bill Pritchett | [email protected]
“I would rather entertain and hope that people learned than
educate people and hope they were entertained.”
—Walt Disney
5161 E. Memorial Dr.
Muncie IN 47302
(765) 287-1256, ext. 516
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