Fairfield League of Yankee Radio Controllers

My mother was very
intuitive when I was 5-10 years old, she realized, as long as she allowed me to
purchase balsa model kits which required assembly she knew where I was, in my
bedroom. One of the greatest experiences in my life after 14 years of college
and grad school I purchased an RC kit consisting of balsa sticks and plywood
with a large set of step-by-step plans. I put the kit together found a local RC
club and had them test fly it. When the model took off, I was as high off the
ground as the model. I could not believe that something I built would actually
fly. The purpose is to have students have this experience. Principles of Flight
Program (POF) targeting Elementary School 5th Grade Classes, Boy Scouts of
America, Civil Air Patrol and Library Summer Camps which meets STEM
requirements. The Program meets 50% of BSA Aviation and Space Exploration Merit
Badges): The program is focusing on local Elementary Schools, 2 in Southbury
Pomperaug and Gainsfield Elementary School), and Booth (Roxbury) and Burnham
(Bridgewater), Library Summer camps and Cub Scouts with a focus on 5th grade 10
years and above. Each of the Southbury Schools has 75-80 students,
Roxbury/Bridgewater 45. The library and town summer camps are in the range of
80-100 participants. A new member to Fly RC a Delta pilot lives in Ridgefield
is contacting elementary schools for their interest. The program is three hours
in length which consists of two segments. The first hr. is an orientation
history of flight from the Wright Brothers to Landing on the moon how planes
and rockets fly teaching Newton’s Laws Bernoulli’s Principle showing how they
apply to the physics of flight. Each principle is demonstrated with actual
hands-on experiments. All instructors are voluntary engineers, commercial licensed
pilots, other local RC clubs and community members who have interest in
education and working with students. The program is fully insured under the AMA
blanket policy. When programs are presented, we ask for feedback on what was
done well how we can improve. The program is weather dependent and takes a back
seat to the annual year end CT required testing which is the Month of May
putting most of the school presentations in the fall months, The best quote
from Feedback Question was from a 5th grader as we were closing up I asked
whether he enjoyed the day and where we could improve his answer “ mine is
short I hate Mondays this was the best Monday I have ever had".

The focus of the program
is to stimulate interest in Science and Technology and get students outside
enjoying the sunshine and become involved in an enjoyable hobby. At the age we
are focusing it requires family involvement. As mentioned above after every
presentation the students are asked to provide a report of what was done well
and what needed improvement.

                                                                       Pomperaug Elementary School HI Ron,

Here is a summary of the
feedback. Overall, students were really pleased with the presentation. They
enjoyed the flight simulator, remote control drones, and rocket launch best.
With respect to the activities that take place in the gym, they would prefer
three distinct activities. They cycled through the flight simulation twice
which was less than ideal. Also, more drones would have been preferred so there
wasn't as much standing around and waiting for a turn. As for the lecture, they
wished it was shorter, or had more memorable moments, like the bottle/paper cup
demo and the hair dryer and ping pong ball demo. Again, overall, it was a
worthwhile experience.

                                                                                             Voices;

On Monday May 16, 2022,
several members of a local model airplane flying club (Fairfield League of
Yankee Radio Controllers, FLYRC, in Southbury), presented an interactive
Principles of Flight Program to the fifth class of Booth Free School. The
program was inspired by a Voices article published two years ago in which a
local Cub Scout Den built and launched ESTES Hobby Rockets for merit badges.
Led by Ron Faanes, the FLYRC team worked with the Academy of Model Aeronautics
(AMA), CT ESTES Rockets, the Minor Memorial Library & Town of Roxbury,
andthe Federal Aviation Administration to bring this high-flying program to
theBooth Free School. The students listened intently, with many questions, t
o anhour-long slide show with hands-on demonstrations. The lecture topics incl
udedthe “History of Flight, “What Is Required for Fixed and Rotary Wing Flig
ht”,and “Jet and Rocket Engines and How They Work”. The morning culminated in
sixgroups of three students, building their own ESTES Rockets .In the after
noonthe class was divided into two groups; one went out to the playground be
hindthe school and launched their rockets while the remaining students went
intothe gym and flew indoor FlyRC is especially suited for presenting this pro
gramcoming from years of experience in the classr

oom.                                                        …