District IX
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Nebraska Associate Vice President Tyler Brown gathered this remarkable story from Craig Schroeder, of Lincoln, Nebraska, about a series of highly successful STEM activities put together by Craig and the members of the Lincoln Sky Knights (LSK):
Our first session was at Waverly Middle School. At the invitation of instructor Laurie Little, STEM students participated in an AMA BETA build-and-fly activity. Five LSK members assisted the students in building and test-flying their rubber band-powered BETAs in the school gym. The club members included President Kevin Christensen, Ric Feldman, Richard White, Ron Miller, and Craig.
In addition, Kevin gave a flying demonstration using his Vapor and Ric explained flight control using his Christen Eagle.
A few weeks later, 16 Waverly High School STEM engineering students participated in building and test-flying Flite Test F-14 chuck gliders. The high school STEM instructor invited seven LSK members to the school woodworking shop to complete the build activity with the students.
Mentoring the students were LSK members Kevin, Ric, Richard, Ron, Jim Martindale, Larry Haisch, and Craig. Kevin again flew his Vapor and Ric shared the principles of flight control.
These groups of students and their parents were invited to attend the Youth Fun-Fly Expo!
on the upcoming Saturday at our field. The Youth Fun-Fly Expo! was held on Saturday, May 13, at the LSK airfield. Twenty-five youth and their parents participated in the event, along with a large group of supportive LSK club members. Free balsa gliders and prize drawings were provided by HobbyTown in Lincoln.
Flying demonstrations by LSK members were held throughout the day, including helicopters, jets, 3D, and Combat aircraft. Several youth club members also flew their airplanes during the event, and Cliff Davis and Ric assisted 11 youth participants with their first RC flights. The club provided free hot dogs and burgers at lunch for guests attending the Youth Fun-Fly Expo!
Thank you to all of the club members who participated in the event. Their passion for flying and their willingness to give their time and expertise allowed more than 50 local youth to experience the joy and challenge of aeromodeling. Their efforts are responsible for this adventure.
A big, special thank-you to Ron, Duane Stick and his guest, Gabriel, from Iowa, John Knopp, Ric, Henry Alexander, and Al Lyman. A big thank-you to Dan Schmidt at HobbyTown in Lincoln for providing the balsa gliders, four foam gliders, and two RC aircraft as prizes. Thanks also to former District IX Vice President Jim Tiller for helping us procure 25 AMA BETAs for the students’ use.
