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 in 1973, I purchased a Sig Kadet RC kit at Ray Johnson's Hobby, Armonk, NY, consisting of balsa sticks and plywood with a large set of step-by-step plans. I put the kit together, found the WRAMs Club in Westchester, CTY NY 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. This exhilarated feeling is still live every time I fly a plane I build.
Several years back before Covid, I saw an article in a local paper about Cub Scouts building model rockets for their Aerospace merit badge. Realizing Cub Scouts are 10 years old, I asked myself why can't we do something like this in the public school classroom 5th grade and share my childhood experience. I spoke to local 5th grade teacher in our little town. Her answer an overwhelming yes, lets give it a try. The program has now been presented to over 600 students, Cub Scouts, local CAP chapter, was part of JA Stem Program for 2 years. The purpose is to have students have this experience.
The program is three hours in length which consists of two segments. The first hour 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 and 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, and his answer was “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 on, it requires family involvement.
