mv-warbird

our club was thinking about going into the local junior high school to see if any of the kids were interested in rc flight.
it would would consist of club members allready certified at training new members.
my question is that are there any issues as far as safety and insurance that ama would not help us on.
even though this is a great hobby,there are a few dangers of flying an rc airplane.
still i think this would be a great way to show the younger crowd just how great of a hobby this is.

any input is welcome.

thanks.

mv warbird

Hossfly

You will get a few opinions here, however I suggest you refer to the AMA Safety Code and the Membership Manual reference Sanctioning an event. There you can find information relative to "Demonstrations". Plan the visit/s with the specific school officials, abide by Demonstration Safety Rules and go for it. TIP: NEVER even get close to going "outside the box" but stay well WITHIN the common sense Safety and AMA Safety Code boxes when demonstrating close to young people. [X(]

fliers1

Check out this site. http://www.thehobbyquest.com/ Contact Dion Cini and confer with him. He should be able to offer some good advice.

CCR

littlecrankshaf

My Feedback: (58)

I think inviting the school classes out for an "Aviation Day" field trip would be great idea for many reasons.

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

RC has lots of complications for school students, especially in large groups. I suggest you start with free flight, which is a much better learning tool for students and then progress into RC. Heck you can even use the same free flight planes and convert them into RC with ease, especially a nice flying glider or some of Leon Shulmans designs.

Get to the roots with the kids, they'll love it.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

It worked very well for us

http://www.gatewayrc.org/highlands.htm

formerlyknownasAWB

warbird I teach in South Jersey and would love to have a guest speaker or have a field trip to a local club. Let me know what you come up with.

In the past I have run an after-school rc clubs, but this was very basic. and they cut it due to funding.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

My son and I got the chance to spend time in his classroom and then go out to the football field where he flew for them. A local hobby shop gave me a box of gliders to give to the kids as a gift. It was great fun.

Newc

I think it's a great idea and offer another route - the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts as well as Brownies and Girl Scouts. They can earn merit badges and you would be dealing with smaller groups and less levels of bureaucrats.

I would go directly to the AMA and ask them for some input via phone, not email. Reason for the use of the phone is that it ill allow some direct questions/answers, etc.

KW_Counter

MV-Warbird,

Our club is talking about trying to make the club grow.
We also need some younger, more energetic, people to help with some of the chores.
We do have a club trainer and the club provides the fuel for student pilots.
What we do not want to become is a baby sitting service.
A lot of young people will be very interested in the hobby until the cost or work becomes a reality.
Now comes the hard question, how do you filter out the actual interest from the free riders?
I wish I had an answer.

I know I sound a bit pessimistic. However, my flight time is limited by the realities of life - job, family, etc.
I am very willing to help anyone I can who is seriously interested.
I am not willing to waste it on someone who is not.

I applaud you for your endeavors and wish you good luck.
Let us know about your successes, the obstacle you encountered and how you overcame them.

Good Luck,
KW_Counter

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Sad but very very true. This is why you should consider free flight first, not only for the sticker shock, but for the appreciation as well. It's best if you build free flyers that have the option to convert to powered which will embrace those who can afford the hop ups and those who cannot, a win win for all.

As far as talking to the AMA a great idea. When I first contacted the AMA about our school programs they were thrilled we introduced children with free flyers instead of powered flyers for the same reasons above.

Believe me this does not mean that you should not introduce RC to school students if at all possible, just gradually get them into it or else you could scare them out as quick as you bring them in. Get them building before you get them flying and they will appreciate the hobby much more. A student will more likely want to keep their own creation flying then something they pulled off the store shelf.

Newc

I think that's a great idea and would suggest that a group build during scouting meetings could be a way to achieve all goals, including weeding out those that aren't interested and keeping the size of the group to a manageable size - as opposed to just going to a junior high school. Maybe a Jr. HS has some sort of after-school club that could work. Might want to have something like an LT-40 as the building project, and perhaps Sig will contribute the kit, and it could be glow or electric powered.

mv-warbird

thank you for all the input gentlemen,

it was brought up at the last club meeting and i though i would get some experienced input on the subject.
we will probably start with the vocational schools in the area if we decide to do it at all.
as my own flyin time is limited also as brought up in the post from others.hopefully that might weed out the people lookin for a free ride.

thanks for all the input.