Education Through Aviation
By Bill Pritchett, Education Director
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” — William Butler Yeats
This year's Camp AMA was held the week of June 16 at AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana. One of the attendees, Michael Horvat, offered the following recap of his week.
Camper Recap — Michael Horvat
Since I was very young, I have always been interested in aviation. I decided my aspiration was to design and build airplanes and figured, why wait? I learned to fly model aircraft when I was 13 and eventually gained enough skill and knowledge to test my designs. I started with building scale models to teach myself how to build flying model aircraft. The MQ-9 Reaper is the latest scale model that I built.
I decided to build the Reaper due to its large wings and simple design. I cut the airplane from pink foam insulation using a hot-wire cutter made from an old car battery charger. Construction started a week before I drove to Camp AMA, and I made it my goal to have the airplane fly during my time at camp.
I was able to complete the airframe and paint it the day before arriving. While at camp, I installed the electronics and landing gear. I received a great deal of help and support from the other campers while finishing the plane, and I am very thankful for it.
I finished the model three days into camp and prepared it for flight. Because of the pusher motor, the plane was tail-heavy and required a great amount of weight in the front. Once the plane was balanced, the rates needed to be turned down and trimmed.
The landing gear was flimsy, but I was determined to put the model in the air that day. I taxied out to the runway and the entire camp gathered to observe the Reaper's maiden flight. I slowly advanced the throttle to full and watched the airplane approach the point of no return.
As the plane picked up speed, the nose wheel lost authority to the rudder. As it accelerated toward the end of the runway, I commanded the plane to give up-elevator. The craft hesitated, then gradually lifted off the ground. It looked amazing in the air and flew beautifully.
Upon landing, the gear collapsed and the airplane rolled to a gradual stop. Because of the awkward way the landing gear folded under the plane, the airframe remained undamaged. The Reaper has not flown since, but new landing gear is being installed and it will be airborne once again.
My experiences at camp were amazing and I intend to return for as many years as possible. My personal thanks go out to the camp director, Jessy Symmes, as well as all of the camp attendees this year.
— Michael Horvat
Fly and have fun!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
