Education Through Aviation — July 2012
By Bill Pritchett, Education Director
"I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book." — Groucho Marx
Another reminder of how much it means for our future modelers to learn to build something with their hands, and not on a screen. We've heard about television from Frank Lloyd Wright, and now Groucho.
We've recently returned from the National Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. While it is worth noting that it was three days of amazing crowds, thousands of displays, and tremendous traffic in our booth, these weren't the most memorable aspects for me. The thing I remember about that weekend the most will always be the DC Maxecuters Model Airplane Club, its members, and their free flight (FF) models.
Like many of you, my start in modeling was control-line (CL) with my dad, then to radio control (RC), and I have been doing that ever since. FF never really hit me until I started working for the AMA. In fact, I ignored it. It struck me as being the worst possible excuse to own a motorcycle. (I can say that since my wife, Lisa, and I enjoy our Harley-Davidson Road King). But, as always, there's more to the story.
Our educational outreach activities, AeroLab, and nearly everything we suggest to our clubs, is rubber-powered indoor FF. This aspect of aeromodeling allows everyone to build and take home an airplane, which is a huge deal for youth. Watching thousands of people stop at our booth and look in amazement at the Maxecuters display as if it were art (and it is) showed me that people still have a high level of respect for those who can make something.
Here's an excerpt from the article "Complaints about a generation of the mechanically challenged," by Cynthia Reynolds:
We advanced to the unique ability to visualize an idea, then create that vision with our hands. That's meant everything from developing tools to imagining airplanes to performing open-heart surgery. So what happens if that all-important hand-brain conversation gets shortchanged at a young age? Can it be reintroduced later, or does that aptitude dissipate?
"We don't really know," says neurologist Dr. Frank Wilson, author of The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language and Human Culture. "That research wouldn't get through an ethics committee, even though it's happening on a massive scale in our homes every day." We only have these uncomfortable clues, such as young people who can't visualize how to best wield a hammer. Or teens who, despite years of unscrewing bottle tops and jars, can't intuitively apply the righty-tighty, lefty-loosey rule of thumb.
Predictably, this is affecting other industries that depend on a mechanically inclined workforce. After NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory noticed its new engineers couldn't do practical problem solving the way its retirees could, it stopped hiring those who didn't have mechanical hobbies in their youth. When MIT realized its engineering students could no longer estimate solutions to problems on their own, that they needed their computers, it began adding remedial building classes to better prepare these soon-to-be professionals for real-world jobs, like designing airplanes and bridges.
What to do? Every chance we have to interact with young people is precious. Stop showing and flying your latest, greatest 1/3-scale smoke-blowing, big, and shiny 3-D creation for youngsters. Sure, it's cool! The problem is, those kids leave thinking only two things: I'll never be able to fly like that, and I'll never be able to afford that. Build a rubber-powered FF model with them—then they have a model of their own! Allow them to absorb the many things they will learn while building, and, as time goes by, possibly become intrigued by the other aspects of our hobby.
I think you might be surprised how much fun it is to have a group of kids in a gym, with the same airplane, competing for longest time aloft. So many pilots now fly foamies during winter in a gymnasium—the perfect place to introduce models for youth.
Resources are available. The National Free Flight Society Digest (freeflight.org) is a great bimonthly publication. Visit the AMA website, click Education, and the links for our resources are there. As always, don't hesitate to give us a call.
Video Contest — Submit Your Best Content
Finally, this month, a contest! Yes, a contest that you can enter, work with someone on, and tell anyone about. As we develop the AMA Flight School website, the conversation at our last Education Committee meeting was that content is everything. One of the best types of content we can have is video, so we're going to have a video contest of stuff generated by the best in model aviation: our members! Here's how it works:
- Categories:
- Best youth member 3-D extreme
- Best beginners "how-to" videos for RC, park flyers, CL, helicopters, and FF
- Best RC indoor video
- Best FF indoor video
- Best club promotional video
- Best AMA recruiting video; both club and individual
- Best aeromodeling safety video
- Deadline: September 30, 2012.
- Prizes: Each category winner will receive a beginner radio system and be recognized in this column.
- Judging: Done online by the Education Committee.
- Submissions: Dave Gee, MA safety columnist and member of the Education Committee, will be the contact for video submissions. Send an email to [email protected] with "video contest" in the subject line and include the YouTube link in the email body.
Everyone loves a good contest; get started!
Fly and have fun!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
