Education Through Aviation
by Bill Pritchett, Education Director
“I found out that it’s not good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear them don’t care and the other twenty percent are glad I’m having them.” —Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda will have some frustration with AMA’s Education department this month because we aren’t having any trouble. We’re on a roll!
I think much of it is because of our new airplane: the Alpha. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 1. It was derived from the Phoenician and Hebrew letter aleph—an ox or leader.
It is leading our departmental efforts right now. Interest in it is high, orders are pouring in, and we continue to develop additional outreach opportunities through the Alpha. A postal contest is in the works—much like in the early days of the AMA, except we’re going to use internet resources to record and score contestants.
YouTube videos will be used extensively to record compliance, flight times, etc. Contest results will be online so everyone who participates can see where they stand. I’m confident that many young people will participate. We’re also working with Science Olympiad, hoping that a building and flying contest for them would utilize the Alpha.
The Alpha comes with a 20 x 1 winder for $7.95. That’s a steal for what the purchaser gets. Each airplane/winder comes in a high-quality box. One of the Alpha’s best features is that it can be taken apart, stored in the box, and put back together for additional flights. This can be done hundreds of times. This wasn’t possible with rubber-powered balsa-and-tissue airplanes. They simply don’t last, and the Alpha does.
Introductory instructions will allow immediate success. Online, we will have a number of more advanced “lessons.” We will dig into the science of flight principles and allow students of flight to put up some impressive flight times. The Alpha is also available in class packs—a box of 50 airplanes without winders for $297.50. These prices don’t include shipping, but I think you can see the amazing benefit/cost here. Many of our outreach alumni have winders and the class packs allow them to work within their established educational space with a great-flying airplane.
The last piece of information to share with you this month is that all Alphas are packaged with FAI rubber. We purchased FAI tan rubber and it is cut to provide two motors. If you have any experience at all with rubber-powered airplanes, this quality rubber is absolutely critical. AMA Education Outreach Specialist Gordon Schimmel likes to say that the rubber provided with many other airplane kits is perfect for keeping a loaf of bread fresh.
The Alpha is an airplane that will provide initial success, and we all agree that’s critical with young people. It’s sophisticated enough to be trimmed and tweaked to provide amazing flight times. If you’ve ever considered doing something with a group of kids, but turned and ran when you looked at the Delta Dart, stop. Order one Alpha, see for yourself, and go put a smile on someone’s face.
Continuing my mission to frustrate Tommy, we were proud to announce the UAS4STEM Collegiate Challenge on November 1, 2017. Following two years of success with the high school challenge, adding a collegiate version made sense.
The collegiate version is unique in a few ways. First of all, it’s “run what you brung.” If it’s a Phantom, fine—if not, fine. The platform doesn’t matter for the challenge.
Next, courtesy of a partnership with Pix4D, students will have a 90-day license to its software. This industry-standard, photo-stitching software starts at $5,000 per license under normal circumstances. By using the Pix4D software, students completing this challenge will be very employable!
Finally, we will only have a national event without regional qualifications. Hosting the collegiate challenge at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, allows us to do many great things, including standardizing the experience for everyone using the same facilities.
This is going to be great. And, at an entry fee of $995, it is another industry best benefit/cost. Lots of kudos for this one, but I must mention Ryan Wallace, Arch Stafford, Jessy Symmes, and Julia Bladen. These people have developed an outstanding learning experience that can and will result in students getting jobs. Sorry, Tommy, no troubles here!
Kids are truly amazing, and we have in the US a young man who is truly one in a million: Joseph Szczur! Joseph, representing the AMA and the US, has participated in seven World Championships in three disciplines. You simply will not find another young model aviator with this résumé.
Joseph has flown in three F3A World Championships, two F3P World Championships, and will soon participate in his second F1D World Championship. Last week, Joseph became the 2017 F3A Junior World Champion for the second consecutive time, earning this honor in 2015 as well. One difference is that he made the finals this year, giving the US team four pilots in the field of 10 going into finals. Another first.
Congratulations, Joseph, and congratulations to the entire F3A team on yet another World Team Championship. Mark Atwood, Jason Shulman, Andrew Jesky, and AC Glenn are fantastic ambassadors of model aviation. Take a kid flying, indeed!
Make sure to share the joy of model aviation and a smile. Don’t take a kid flying, take two. Be humble and kind. Surprise the car behind you in a drive-thru and pay for theirs, too. Volunteer. Make a difference in your community. Fly and have fun!
