Boy Scouts Day

[WJCJR1]

We hosted the Boy Scouts at our airfield today. It was a great day. Every child left with either a smile on their face or the memory of the smile they had as they Buddy-Box'd a plane. It really was fun! I expected more of a stressful mad dash full of bumps and suprises[rises but it went well.

Upon arrival we had a member explain the field, rules, flight basics and agenda for the day to the parents and children. Then we broke up into 'squadrons' and coached the 'recruits' on the flight simulators we had on site. Following the sim we brought the new pilots up to the flight line and a flight instructor coupled with a co-flight instructor buddy box'd them up.

I mainly pulled a role of co-flight instructor and helped the pilots again understand what was in their hand and gave commands for them to follow. After the new pilots learned the basic circuit flight my flight instructor and I would assist in getting the students to pull a loop and a roll. I was very lucky the member I teamed with had a GREAT trainer and was very patient and we were a good team.

I would encourage all airfields to do an event like this, even if it is only once or twice a year. This really was fun and giving the youth and some parents too the chance to try something they have never even thought of doing and do it in a satisfying successful manner is priceless. I am sure we will gain some membership from it as well but just the sharing of such a great experience with another was enough for me.

Wayne

[ATIS]

Wayne,

Sounds like the kids were not the only ones that left with a smile!! Great idea and a great way to introduce kids to the hobby!!

[patmatgal]

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Saw my 12 year old nephew last weekend and gave him a stock Super Cub, after he put it together with his Dad we went out for some stick time. After some basics about the radio and a lot of "fly it, fly it" I caved in. One nose plant (broken prop and no spare) and then the 2nd plane got treed. Well it was a fun time, just not much flying. Am wondering, when you're teaching kids, what were the points you stressed and what did you make sure they were comfortable with before flying? Hope this makes sense.

[WJCJR1]

Hey all I was a bit bushed by the time I wrote this Boy Scout report yesterday so I left out many details. BTW before I go further I should explain there was more than just the Boy Scouts, due to it being Memorial weekend and it's unusual calendar placement this year I believe there were many Boy Scout dropouts. So we contacted the 4H clubs and they found a good bunch of additional boys/girls interested.

Yes ATIS you are correct a positive time was had by all.

You know Pat with the onset of imperial Playstation, Xbox etc. and the genuine interest/curiosity of a child at hand it is amazing how quickly they pick something up. There were children who were concerned of crashing a plane, after several flights on the simulator in the back of a van or jeep and feeding them positive reinforcement each child was able to fly a circuit on the simulator. The simulators were set up on probably 15" screen laptops so they were quite small but really the intent was not to teach them to fly but to orient them with the controls, how they worked and that when they moved a stick what it did.

After each child had a few minutes on the simulator the flight instructors were ready with their trainer planes and buddy boxes.

The Flight Instructor I co-instructed with was great and for our team it was a full success. I am sure the other two teams had as much fun and success but I was so busy guiding the students and trying to teach on the fly (literally) that I never had the chance to view the other teams. Basically I would accept one child, I picked the most ready child first via accessing his/her comfort/ability on the simulator. My flight instructor would have the plane gassed up and ready to go, I would once more explain the transmitter and how the sticks work and how to work them. I reassured there was the instructor always on hand if something goes awry and I can not respond quick enough, which probably would have occurred but my guy was quick to recognize and help us out, this fact that there was a second (primary) radio in-line as a safety net secured the children and parent immensely. After the real transmitter orientation and how to hold it, small hands kind of tough, the instructor would take to the air get a 150 feet up or a bit more and get us lined up crossing in front of the student, I emphasized which plane was ours and then OK it's yours. The student held the transmitter and I had them start putting in inputs very small to see how the plane responded, you know up, down, L, R. This trainer was aileron equipped so if you went too far it would obviously roll, so then I taught stabilization of the wings, then we did circuits around the field and then finally we'd go a bit higher and have the student do a loop and then on the next pass a roll. At first I was helping the children guide the sticks then I would do what I could to take a hands to the side approach and only give coaching as needed. I did however need to get involved a few times per child just to help out as disorientation was common. I was glad Jason, our flight instructor, was there and at the ready with the primary transmitter.

After all children had been through the simulator and flown at least once for real we had a break, expert flying demonstration from a stunt competitor, real good national competitor.

Then we had an open fly for bit as we collected all the children's name tags and threw them into a box. Hobbyzone graciously donated a Super Cub RTF for the event, thank-you Dave and Dan. We got all the kids together and pulled a name out of a hat. I did not know they had already pulled the name so when my son and I carried the box around the corner the winner was already anticipating something. A girl named Josie won the plane and was VERY EXCITED. Her and her mother's mouth dropped open with WOWS coming out. He brother thought he was going to take the box but was immediately informed by Mom and Daughter this is not yours this is mine/Josie's. We then handed out rubber band powered balsa Jetstream planes to all.

Several parents asked about coming back with their children to see more and of course anyone is welcome any time. Saturdays we try to have a buddy box available for free flight training to anyone who wants to stop by, I have not seen it being used much but maybe it will now get a bit of use.

So that's a bit more detail, began at 10:15ish and ran until about 12:30ish so it wasn't too long but it worked nicely and I think we achieved the objective of giving all interested a glimpse into the world of Rc Airflight.

TO some of the parents asking for product information I wanted to remember our site but was a bit overwhelmed and never got it out, that's ok when they come back and start getting into products I'll let them know, so they will have the wealth of information at our fingertips as well.

Wayne

[patmatgal]

Wayne
Thanks much. Main points seem to be simulator time, orientation with the radio and fly using a buddy box. Will have a more laid out plan next time we fly. Thanks for all the tips, don't want to overwhelm him with too much info, just basics and keeping it fun.
Pat

[WJCJR1]

That's it keep it fun and simple, an introduction only at first. If the student pilot demands more than you provide more. I think if you make it too filled full of consequences/demands, i.e. no buddy box, the fun evaporates leaving behind stress, anxiety and fear. There is only one guarantee then, not a good experience.

All the students I had were happy to move on to some very basic aerobatics, we were the only flight instructor team doing this so the students got their time's worth. The students enjoyed the feel of a loop and a roll, one student looped about 3 times in a row before he got dizzy.

Wayne

[Jason D]

Wayne-

I was just going through this thread and you got me thinking about that day out at the field. It certainly does bring a smile to my face. ::very happy::

For those of you that don't know. Wayne and I were the team he mentions during his posts. It sounds like he had almost as good a time as me. :thumbsup:

I think we should try and set something like that up again for next year. I had a blast.

-Jason

[WJCJR1]

Absolutely Jason I would like to do thsi much more often. Now that I am fully and properly rigged for a Buddy system as well this extra hardware offers even more opportunities.

I am still awaiting our first victim from HorizonRcFlyers.com to sign up in the free training session. I have had a few questions about it privately and a few yeah I'm going to do it but no sign-ups yet but I am sure it's coming.

Wayne

[Jason D]

Cool.