12 New Pilots

[Reills]

I am a MakerSpace teacher at a boys boarding school. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we change things up and the whole school works on "Winter Projects". Twelve middle school students, a science teacher, a history teacher, and myself took on "The History of Flight: Da Vinci to Space X". With the school supplying the materials, we built & flew 7 Old Fogeys (some with more success than others).

At the Project Fair several parents asked me where they could buy the needed electronics to continue with the hobby.

 

[Merv]

Great idea.
Welcome to the forums

 

[Monte.C]

I am a MakerSpace teacher at a boys boarding school. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we change things up and the whole school works on "Winter Projects". Twelve middle school students, a science teacher, a history teacher, and myself took on "The History of Flight: Da Vinci to Space X". With the school supplying the materials, we built & flew 7 Old Fogeys (some with more success than others).

At the Project Fair several parents asked me where they could buy the needed electronics to continue with the hobby.

Success! I'm sure that brings you a feeling of accomplishment. You've enriched the lives of others.

 

[alan0043]

I am a MakerSpace teacher at a boys boarding school. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we change things up and the whole school works on "Winter Projects". Twelve middle school students, a science teacher, a history teacher, and myself took on "The History of Flight: Da Vinci to Space X". With the school supplying the materials, we built & flew 7 Old Fogeys (some with more success than others).

At the Project Fair several parents asked me where they could buy the needed electronics to continue with the hobby.

I have a question for you. Have you looked at Flite Test STEM ? The Flite Test store could be a good source for electronics. Good luck with your winter projects.

 

[Reills]

I have a question for you. Have you looked at Flite Test STEM ? The Flite Test store could be a good source for electronics. Good luck with your winter projects.

I have signed up for the FT STEM trial. This was their one class, so we had some 50 hours of teaching time, and I wanted something that could grow more than I saw with the FT STEM products.

We were in the air for under $150 per plane with a 6 channel transmitter for each. The Old Fogey's power pods can be used in more agile planes. Starting from bare foam board also offered some unique teaching points. A dozen middle school boys, sharp things, and all fingers remained unharmed. Okay, our motto became "Hot Glue is HOT, ALWAYS."

The boys have noticed the large cavity beneath the power pod on the Old Fogey and are looking to add a hatch to carry and then drop things.

 

[Mr NCT]

I have signed up for the FT STEM trial. This was their one class, so we had some 50 hours of teaching time, and I wanted something that could grow more than I saw with the FT STEM products.

We were in the air for under $150 per plane with a 6 channel transmitter for each. The Old Fogey's power pods can be used in more agile planes. Starting from bare foam board also offered some unique teaching points. A dozen middle school boys, sharp things, and all fingers remained unharmed. Okay, our motto became "Hot Glue is HOT, ALWAYS."

The boys have noticed the large cavity beneath the power pod on the Old Fogey and are looking to add a hatch to carry and then drop things.

If they see all the things the FT crew have dropped in their YouTube videos you'll have to have a designated impact area at your flying site.

 

[mastermalpass]

We don't often see newcomers arriving with a whole Squadron! I hope your students stay interested, I'm excited to see what a whole team of kids who know each other well can put together!

Did you get a video of the 12 Fogeys in action? Or is there a safeguarding rule against uploading videos that may show a schoolkid's face in the frame/recording videos for personal use at a school?

 

[Reills]

We don't often see newcomers arriving with a whole Squadron! I hope your students stay interested, I'm excited to see what a whole team of kids who know each other well can put together!

Did you get a video of the 12 Fogeys in action? Or is there a safeguarding rule against uploading videos that may show a schoolkid's face in the frame/recording videos for personal use at a school?

We paired the students and built 6 planes (and I built one to show the steps before hand). They went up one at a time. Yah, I'm not comfortable posting their images as they're under 13 years old. I already have one student who REALLY wants to build and fly a "Flerken".

 

[Reills]

If they see all the things the FT crew have dropped in their YouTube videos you'll have to have a designated impact area at your flying site.

I'm 3D printing paratroopers, but yes, there will be a designated "Drop Zone".

 

[Mr NCT]

You are doing such a good thing! Aside from the RC and aviation aspect, so few kids in school get any hands-on anything. I was fortunate to attend a high school that had a very active shop wing (long ago done away with) and I took every course I could get in electricity & electronics. The first year and a half of college electrical engineering was all review for me and I was one of the few who had actually used meters, scopes, etc. Getting your students to use their hands along with their minds is giving them a leg up in whatever field they go into. Keep up the good work! Thus endeth my rant for today.

 

[Monte.C]

You are doing such a good thing! Aside from the RC and aviation aspect, so few kids in school get any hands-on anything. I was fortunate to attend a high school that had a very active shop wing (long ago done away with) and I took every course I could get in electricity & electronics. The first year and a half of college electrical engineering was all review for me and I was one of the few who had actually used meters, scopes, etc. Getting your students to use their hands along with their minds is giving them a leg up in whatever field they go into. Keep up the good work! Thus endeth my rant for today.

Good rant.
I still can hardly believe they got rid of shop and home economics long ago. Now certain factions are trying to kill math. What'll be left? Gender studies? Some of us don't need to study that.

 

[Reills]

 

[PsyBorg]

Good rant.
I still can hardly believe they got rid of shop and home economics long ago. Now certain factions are trying to kill math. What'll be left? Gender studies? Some of us don't need to study that.

Gender studies... pfft... Just look down... not so freakin hard..

I started shop classes in like 5th grade with simple wood working. Our very first project was a 1 inch square wooden dowel that we sanded smooth. Then filed in triangles down one whole side on a corner. Screwed a hand carved wooden propeller on it and was done. You rubbed a stick up and down the wooden dowel which in turn magically made the propeller spin.

Went on from there with bigger and better projects each grade with more teaching advanced skills then into use of power tools. I remember my 8th grade year when they decided that shop and home economics was no longer to be gender split. All the boys hated it at first till we learned how to bake. I still to this day enjoy baking and can attest to that fact with pictures (I wont be showing) of a growing belly. I made the mistake 12 years ago when I moved in to this tiny apartment to get one of those good stand mixers. I went from decent shape at 168lb to 213 at my worst in about 6 months. THEN I stopped baking for over a year an a half til I got back down to the low 190's.

I feel bad that kids these days wont get to experience that on a regular basis as part of their education. Its probably for the best. All that requires paying attention and being able to follow direction or at the very least read comprehensively. Something which the system has obviously failed them all on as seen here quite frequently depending on at what point in the decline they went thru school system.

 

[alan0043]

I have signed up for the FT STEM trial. This was their one class, so we had some 50 hours of teaching time, and I wanted something that could grow more than I saw with the FT STEM products.

We were in the air for under $150 per plane with a 6 channel transmitter for each. The Old Fogey's power pods can be used in more agile planes. Starting from bare foam board also offered some unique teaching points. A dozen middle school boys, sharp things, and all fingers remained unharmed. Okay, our motto became "Hot Glue is HOT, ALWAYS."

The boys have noticed the large cavity beneath the power pod on the Old Fogey and are looking to add a hatch to carry and then drop things.

Hi Reills,

This is just an idea. Send Lee the director of FTCA an email or pm and mention to him that you want to take your class past what the FT STEM is doing. Maybe he will have some ideas. Also ask Lee if he would show Josh the email / pm that you sent him. Maybe the two of them can come up with some ideas to help your class. Also let Lee know were you think that the FT STEM is falling short for your class. I know Lee and Josh want to see the hobby to grow. The future is in school now. PS; I have seven grandkids and they are all different. The oldest is 22.

 

[mastermalpass]

Good rant.
I still can hardly believe they got rid of shop and home economics long ago. Now certain factions are trying to kill math. What'll be left? Gender studies? Some of us don't need to study that.

Is this in the US? In the UK, by the time you reach Key Stage 4, you would have done at least one term in Woodworking, Metalworking, plastics, cooking and textiles (it all falls under the lesson 'DT' - 'Design & Technology'); essentially a selection of basics from the world of manufacturing stuff, be it stuff you can sit on, stuff you can wear, stuff you can eat or stuff you can interact with. I finished in '08, but I visited the school in '16 to see a pantomime they were putting on and saw that the DT building had been upgraded. So I hope that means it's still in the curriculum.

Killing maths though? ... Who's trying to kill maths and why are they taking their ability to count for granted? 😂

 

[Monte.C]

Is this in the US? In the UK, by the time you reach Key Stage 4, you would have done at least one term in Woodworking, Metalworking, plastics, cooking and textiles (it all falls under the lesson 'DT' - 'Design & Technology'); essentially a selection of basics from the world of manufacturing stuff, be it stuff you can sit on, stuff you can wear, stuff you can eat or stuff you can interact with. I finished in '08, but I visited the school in '16 to see a pantomime they were putting on and saw that the DT building had been upgraded. So I hope that means it's still in the curriculum.

Killing maths though? ... Who's trying to kill maths and why are they taking their ability to count for granted? 😂

Wow I'm so excited to hear you have these classes in the UK. Maybe the world ISN'T ending after all.

To answer you math question, and without starting a political discussion: In the heart of Leftist-Liberal Land, California, they've been trying to change the whole math course structure through grade 12. This would include later introduction to algebra, which is considered the gateway to higher math and critical thinking in general. This seems to me the opposite of what we intuitively know, the opposite of raw common sense. So. It is what it is.

Exposing young ones to how things work, how things are put together, how your hands and your mind and tools work together is perfect. And even - dare I say - how basic algebraic thinking helps you understand how things work. Like how to scale plans. Like how to visualize the 3D geometry of a plane you haven't drawn yet.

 

[mastermalpass]

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I get you're just trying to show us the planes but... Care to share the story behind those ships? They look awesome! I used to love making model ships when I was a kid - focussing heavily on 17th and 18th Century warships (I was going to say square-riggers, but remembered the first one I made was a Xebec). They were normally just built from cereal boxes and just sat on the living room floor, but the phase ended with a cereal box ship getting wrapped in tape, painted in hammerite and floated in the local river.

 

[mastermalpass]

Wow I'm so excited to hear you have these classes in the UK. Maybe the world ISN'T ending after all.

To answer you math question, and without starting a political discussion: In the heart of Leftist-Liberal Land, California, they've been trying to change the whole math course structure through grade 12. This would include later introduction to algebra, which is considered the gateway to higher math and critical thinking in general. This seems to me the opposite of what we intuitively know, the opposite of raw common sense. So. It is what it is.

Exposing young ones to how things work, how things are put together, how your hands and your mind and tools work together is perfect. And even - dare I say - how basic algebraic thinking helps you understand how things work. Like how to scale plans. Like how to visualize the 3D geometry of a plane you haven't drawn yet.

Oohf, tough break there. In the UK, boards are planning how to go about teaching algebra to kids even younger - because it turns out they are capable of learning it and so we may as well utilise the 'head-start' available to them.

I always thought classes would naturally get harder as time went on and teaching methods improved. However, I have since learned that many Schools really aren't pulling their weight. My girlfriend's mum is a head teacher and good lord, some of the stories that have been passed back to me... She took a primary school from being very close to getting shut down, to having the best grades in the country in a single year. She's not your everyday person, I don't expect any old teacher to be like her, but the fact it took ONE person to not just save a whole school but make it one of the best, tells me there are a lot of useless school staff over here who simply do not care about the futures of their students (yes, my girlfriend's mum did have to get rid of some of the staff in her school to get to where it is now, I'm sure she would get rid of more, but getting rid of bad school staff is surprisingly difficult).

 

[Monte.C]

Geez slow down - Too many things to respond to here!
I will say you're spending time with worthy people, that's for sure.
It's a horrible truth about the teachers. That could spin me off into so many directions.
I get easily disillusioned with the masses. It seems sometimes like reason and common sense and logic and critical thinking are very rare with the general public. Instead of focusing so much on how many genders there are and what parts of our history we want to make disappear, and who's guilty for who's woes, if we put our minds to it we could double the quality of education and the "growing up experience" for all our young ones.

 

[mastermalpass]

It seems sometimes like reason and common sense and logic and critical thinking are very rare with the general public. Instead of focusing so much on how many genders there are and what parts of our history we want to make disappear, and who's guilty for who's woes, if we put our minds to it we could double the quality of education and the "growing up experience" for all our young ones.

Yeah, when I see what the common people are commonly sensing I start to think, maybe the kind of sense we consider common is not a necessarily good one haha!

As for the genders thing, eh, it's no big deal to me what gender someone wants to identify as. Literally effects me in no way whatsoever. Other cultures through history had more than two and it didn't destroy them, so like you say; we have bigger fish to fry. But, so many people be like; 'What genitals do you have? Your gender MUST reflect those... What d'you mean you're biologically intersexed? We can't have that, we're gonna make you into a typical woman or man, whether you like it or not)'. So a political movement has been formed in an attempt to get those people to back off and let people be.