advice for starting a group at a high school

[thediehlio]

hello everybody, I am the founder of a group at my school for anyone who wants to pursue and test their intrest in the hobby. I have been flying for seven years (airplanes, never been a heli guy) Any way, I am planning on modeling it closely after the MESArcff group that has multiple branches in several countries. I plan to use air planes like the FT Old Fogey and other slow flyer aircraft in the beginner courses and faster, more aerobatic aircraft in the advanced courses. I would like some insight on what equipment to buy with the funding and how organize the club. There is one other rc pilot at my school and he would be willing to help as well. Any ideas?

 

[stay-fun]

I would like some insight on what equipment to buy with the funding and how organize the club. There is one other rc pilot at my school and he would be willing to help as well. Any ideas?

Nice project! Good luck! :applause:

As for your question about recommended equipment, can you be more specific? I'm sure you need more specific answers than 'go with the recommended electronics', or not?

 

[thediehlio]

Thanks for replying! I actually got in contact with mesa and our group is becoming one of their chapters. I have been talking with their leader and have gotten some good advice from him on the electronics and such. I do have a question related to helicopters, though, as one of the potential members had a question about quadcopters, which I have very little knowledge about. Since you seem to be a heli guy, I thought you might be able to help me. He asked about building them in our course and I thought I he really wanted to pursue it, I could gain some knowledge from other chapters and people on the forums. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[stay-fun]

Lol, I know more about planes than multirotors: when I say helicopter addict, I mean helicopters

So he 'has a question about quadcopters', and would I 'have some suggestions'? What do you need to know?
A good place to start:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?7837-Multirotor-Top-Tips

 

[MustangStud]

hello everybody, I am the founder of a group at my school for anyone who wants to pursue and test their intrest in the hobby. I have been flying for seven years (airplanes, never been a heli guy) Any way, I am planning on modeling it closely after the MESArcff group that has multiple branches in several countries. I plan to use air planes like the FT Old Fogey and other slow flyer aircraft in the beginner courses and faster, more aerobatic aircraft in the advanced courses. I would like some insight on what equipment to buy with the funding and how organize the club. There is one other rc pilot at my school and he would be willing to help as well. Any ideas?

I would love to start a group like this, but don't know of anyone that is interested. How could I find people to help me start up?

 

[gmackster]

I'm a high school teacher who is thinking of starting a club like this, but where would the kids get the money for electronics and tx's?

 

[offaxis]

Best thing I can think of is putting together a kit list that they have to go buy if they what to be part of the club. Or find companies to sponsor it.

 

[earthsciteach]

The great thing about the swappables is that you can share motors/escs/props and batteries between several students' airplanes. This also allows you to buy only a couple of tx's.

Things are in the works for FT to create programs that promote school and community clubs (hence, this forum). They want to bring young people into the hobby and have the ability to offer very affordable products to facilitate that.

Thedeilhio - Jake at MESA FF runs an AMAZING program. When I am in the position to start a club at my school, I will definitely consider becoming a chapter. Unfortunately, at the moment, I am spread to thin with other after school activities (Science Olympiad and TSA). I want to find someone else to take on the advisor role for TSA so I can focus on building a program similar to Jake's.

offaxis - where in Central PA are you? I live in Dallastown and teach at Cedar Cliff High School.

 

[thediehlio]

Hello, sorry I have been offline for a little while. My group has become a chapter of the MESA program and Mr. Marshall has been extremely helpful with any questions I have had. To answer some questions, for funding you can run on about 30 dollars per student and that should cover basic materials like motors, servos, escs and other parts you will need. you will want spares and if you dont have a trainer cord, I recommend you get one as well. You can also use your own transmitter if you are comfortable doing so. For getting enough people, find a popular teacher to sponsor your program and make posters with cool pictures. Something about being able to build and control something that looks nice and goes fast appeals to more people than you would think. When they come, prepare a powerpoint or bring in some of your aircraft to show and
use it to help answer questions and spark interest. Once started, you can really figure out which direction you want to go with it and just teach and have fun.

 

[thediehlio]

Also, you can kind of disguise it as a learning tool and the teachers will want to back it. After all, designing your own airplanes is a form of engineering and uses alot of math, so it is not to hard to show it as a class more than a club