District IX—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Jim Tiller
Vice President
jtiller@hotmail.com
Box 828, Custer SD 57730
Tel.: (605) 390-3878
Norm Edwards of the Colorado Dawn Patrol sent along this information about the group’s Second Annual Swap Meet at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle, Colorado, in April, 2017.
Colorado modelers arrived despite a late spring snowstorm that continued all day. Plenty of participants from across the area braved the elements to help us make this a success.
The event was organized by Wayne Perry, Dawn Patrol president, and Norman Berger. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds was donated to the Disabled American Veterans through the AMA. The remainder will be used by the club, which is still in its early stages.
Participants pay either a small admission charge or a table fee. There were hundreds of items. Our swap meet format is easy to manage with club members and lets sellers set their prices, negotiate, and keep the proceeds for themselves. We think this is a win/win for everyone and we plan to do it again next year. Look for an announcement next winter on our website: www.coloradodawnpatrol.com.
Rick McCaskill, Colorado associate vice president (AVP), sent this summary of his second year participating in the Colorado Dream Big event, held April 27, 2017.
This exciting program is designed to hook Colorado’s rural school kids on STEM. It is a collaborative effort between educators, administrators, AMA, the Colorado sUAS community, and the State of Colorado.
Dream Big, as the name implies, is designed to inspire students and open their minds to exciting opportunities and careers. Secondly, it exposes them to new technologies in a way not normally accessible in rural America.
This year’s event brought students from 10 high schools in southeastern Colorado to Eads High School. These 10 schools house roughly 1,000 total students in grades K-12 from a large area that is mostly cattle ranches and agriculture. Some of the high schools bused participants more than an hour to the event.
Companies and organizations such as AMA, U.S. Army UAS team, Colorado National Guard, Colorado School of Mines, Metro State University, Trinidad State, Colorado Aerial Imaging, Apex Unmanned Systems, UAS Colorado, Center of Excellence, Reference Technology, Fauston Tool, The 3D Printing Store, SecureSet Academy, United Airlines, and the Wings Over the Rockies Museum were among the presenters. The students gathered in the gymnasium for opening remarks from Jay Lindell, Aerospace and Defense Industry Champion for the State of Colorado, followed by a welcome from Colorado Lt. Governor Donna Lynne.
Students were preassigned to groups of approximately 50. Each group rotated through five technology learning themes throughout the day, most spending roughly 40 minutes at each experience led by the Dream Big team. Some experiences were inside, some outside, and some had classroom and hands-on tasks. All of the programs highlighted career opportunities for their futures.
There were too many highlights to list all of them, but here are a few:
• Students were asked to write an essay and winners got rides in a Cessna 182 flown by Mitch Bowers, from the Wings Over The Rockies Air & Space Museum.
• Photographic operations from a DJI Inspire were done by Scott Fredericksen of Colorado Aerial Imaging. He flew the drone with the students working the camera, which was viewed on a large screen.
• The U.S. Army National Guard flew in a Black Hawk and a Chinook. The U.S. Army UAS team brought a 14-foot Shadow drone. The crews were available all day to interact with students.
• I teamed up with Allen Bishop of Reference Tech to give introductory UAS flight instruction to students using a DJI Mavic Pro.
• Dr. Rob Fredell, president of the Challenger Learning Center in Colorado Springs, conducted two e-mission simulations where selected students who completed the pre-session homework went on two-hour simulations of a Mars mission.
Rick commented, “It’s inspiring. The Eads Superintendent received wonderful feedback from teachers and students. Many said it was the best field trip ever. It was a grand slam homerun! Thanks to all who helped.”
Associate Vice Presidents: Tyler Brown, Lincoln NE; (402) 617-044; tyl erzx9r@yahoo.com; Paul Frankum, Lenexa KS; (912) 856-6372; paulf1524@yahoo.com; Troy Hamm, Gardner KS; (913) 744-5745; funflyr@juno.com; David Koch, Mandan ND; (701) 471-9575; kockbrandon471@gmail.com. Rick McCaskill, Frederick CO; (303) 682-0440; rickm1947@aol.com; Tom Neff, Aurora CO; (303) 829-5416; thomas.neff@comcast.net; Josh Nelson, Casper WY; (307) 277-3110; huntwyoming@gmail.com; Arend Schuurman, Elkton SD; (605) 695-2122; arend.schuurman@gmail.com.
Event Sanction Coordinator: Troy Hamm, Gardner KS; (913) 744-5745; funflyr@juno.com.
