The Inside Loop - 2008/05
What kid in school doesn't daydream in class when it's a beautiful day? Most of the kids in my high school class were probably thinking about hanging out in the square, tossing the ball around, or running out to Burger King for lunch. I, however, was watching the trees to see how hard the wind was blowing so I could fly my model airplane.
Social studies was never my favorite class, but in the spring it was even harder to sit through because it was the last class before recess. On one particular day, tucked away in my car (I was a senior in high school) was my RC trainer. I was relatively new at flying RC, but I had bragged enough to my best friend that I could show him how cool it was.
When the bell rang I was already out the door and down the hall. Walking out to the lower-field baseball diamond, my friend caught up with me and remarked how cool he thought my airplane was. Best friends are good for building confidence.
The packed clay of the baseball diamond was refreshing to fly from, as I often labored to get the model to take off from thick grass. I took off toward the pitching mound and launched into the air as if I were flying a Tomcat off a carrier deck.
The high-pitched scream of my O.S. .15 engine quickly drew attention, and suddenly the third-base embankment filled with spectators. Now that I was on display, my knees were shaking like crazy and the fenced-in ball field felt as big as a postage stamp. I circled the field a few times and even managed some lazy loops with my three-channel trainer, to which the naive audience politely applauded.
As the time arrived for landing, the instructor inside my head was almost drowned out by the chanting of my school friends. They expected me to make contact with the ground—but they didn't know how. I had an idea of how to land, but in the moment I had forgotten the details. The spectators kept their distance from the field, which I was happy about. In reality I had plenty of room to maneuver, so safety wasn't an issue.
The landing was spectacular, but more of a crowd-pleaser than I wanted. I made my approach as far away from the people as possible. However, when the model flared for landing it was on the wrong side of the fence. The right wing caught a fence post and the model twirled to a stop, tail first.
What I thought was the world's worst performance of a model airplane turned out to be the most amazing thing many of the students had ever seen. They wanted to know more. Yes, I was late getting back to class, but it was worth it.
Fly the RC Adventure
Joe Beshar's program, Fly the RC Adventure, has a lot more promise of getting kids into modeling than any antic I came up with in high school. I don't know about you, but if I were a kid in school I'd jump at the chance to take a class about learning to fly a model airplane.
That's basically what Joe's program has done: it has made RC modeling a regular class at a public school in his area.
Why the program works
- The school program is sponsored by a local business that generously supplies the necessary equipment for the kids.
- Fly the RC Adventure is a model for all AMA members to follow if they think the rewarding experience would benefit a student's overall education.
I know that every time I succeed with a model airplane, that experience enhances my ambition to find similar rewards in everything else I do. After reading about Fly the RC Adventure, check out the tips and find out how to make modeling a part of your community's school curriculum.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
