Catch em young.

**wonwinglo** · 23-07-2004

One of the things that I have noticed is that there are few young newcomers to modelling,dont know whether they still teach crafts in schools these days such as woodwork & metalwork ? but I find it sad that something that has given so much pleasure is ignored by the education people,computers are great tools in themselves but you just need to be practical and use your hands to make things alongside,well that is my theory anyway so over the years I have made a little time to go out to the schools and give a few talks on my flying machines,the kids just love it especially if followed up with a demonstration of a small electric model in the playground or a model helicopter hovering.
Take a bunch of chuck gliders along and they will have the time of their life !
Here is a picture of a classroom talk that some student teachers asked me to give to the kids,it really was great fun even if a bit of work was involved getting the models to the school,I started with a story of how the Wright brothers first flew and followed it through to the present day with a super sleek model of the Concorde just to show how things have evolved.
Perhaps if I had been a tacher then these lot would have had a few more helpings of aviation and model building !
I know someone in Australia who was teaching some wayward kids to build models from chunks of timber,imagine the scary scene as Stanley knives were weilded to produce crude but non the less good attempts at making some models ! but they all enjoyed themselves and that was the main thing.

duncan · 23-07-2004

Agree 100% with your drift. It seems that a Swedish company has identified exactly what you say and is producing a giant Meccano type bundle of bits, in metal, that after the design stage on the computer the kids have a vehicle that works and can carry a small person instead of just a blank VDU screen at the end of class. It is up to them what shape it takes, bike,trike,quad etc. then of course it has to be serviced and maintained or dismantled for use as another type of machine. Salesmen are on the road trying to interest education authorities in the UK at the moment. Hope they get some takers. By the way, what did the kids think of the "flying lavvy seat" in the pic? They love toilet humour at that age.

**wonwinglo** · 23-07-2004

Now that makes interesting and re-assuring reading Duncan,I think that given the chance a lot of youngsters would love to build something,I was fortunate in that my father was my mentor,cannot ever remember him without a model on the bench,just like myself I think ! it is all about inspiration when you are young,you see these things taking shape and try and emulate,sometimes the results were crude but the seed was planted for the future,that is what we have to trey and do plant those little seeds of inspiration to everyone around us,I see work on this group that makes me marvel at the skill around,does not matter whether it be a battleship,spaceship or car it is all about model building,and boy is that fun !
Even a small table full of models at a garden fete can bring in so much interest and its good to give something back to our hobby,if anyone has not already done so give it a whirl,you will be surprised at the interest that it generates.
The more modellers we have then the more suppliers will cater for our whims and that for one cannot be bad.
Best of luck to that company,they certainly have the right approach.
Flying Lvvie seat indeed ! that is the Dixon Saucerplane made for the Magnificent men film,the original actually flew like the little model there,well spotted !

Uncivil Serpent · 21-08-2004

Hi All,

We've sort of gone along this line at the Gosport Model Yacht and Boat Club. In conjunction with the local council, bless them (!), we held a paper boat race for all the youngsters attending the local play sceme's for the summer holidays. Seems to have gone down well with the kids so will be doing this every year from now on. We're also liasing with local sea scouts and other organisations ( Sea Cadets, ATC etc)to get the get them interested. Having a new council built clubhouse helps.

For a view of the new clubhouse here, check out

http://www.communigate.co.uk/hants/g...bc/page5.phtml

The upstairs is a cafe/bistro and down below is the clubhouse.

Regards to all

Chris

**Bluewavestudios** · 22-08-2004

Nice clubhouse and pond too...and all in my Home County although I am many miles away living in North Wales now. We have a couple of nice ponds here provided by the councill, the smaller one being used for electric and yachts/sailboats, it does have a shelter but that is all it is...!!!! The larger pond is used for all the power stuff i/c engined boats etc.....not used that one yet but I suspect that only has a shelter too knowing councils around here. (Yet in 1995 on the V.E. Day sailing we had well over 100 boats and probably 5 times that in people watching & Council Officials were out.... (On a Sunday too...!!!) they were impressed by the turn out and it was overheard at the time that they would provide even more facilities as this was a major attraction)....but, it never happened. At least we still have the pond and the shelter......all in a very nice suntrap too when it decides to shine..!!!

Regards............Mark

**Bluewavestudios** · 22-08-2004

and in reply to Wonwinglo...yes my father was my mentor too, he was an army pilot (On both fixed wing and Heli's) I can still remember my very early years when he would build balsa planes covered in tissue and dope, wind up the rubber on the prop and launch them from the bedroom window so I could watch.
He taught me how to build those myself and would keep a watchful eye over me whilst I did them, When I progressed into R/C, he knew I had learnt enough and left me to it....although still giving the odd bit of advice here and there

. now 28 years down the line....I am teaching my 15 year old nephew the same, he is only on cars at the moment, he has sailed a couple of my boats but definitely has his eye on my Helicopters...!!! mmmmmmmm

It is nice to see the youngsters coming into the hobby though and realising that r/c models are a whole different ball game to computer games....ie no quick restarts...if you crash it is for real....My Nephew understands this now and has much respect for his car, he has also learnt very quickly how to set up i/c engines and how to maintain them so my knowledge is not wasted...!!!

and in final tribute to my father, the last aircraft he flew regularly in the Army was a DH2 Beaver......Of which I now have a very nice scale example under construction, 8 ft wingspan powered by an MVVS .40 Diesel....(I have numerous photos of the real thing to get all the scale bits right, even from from my little jaunts up in one in the back seats...!!!).....I even have a genuine Beaver clock on my desk...!!!

Regards............Mark

**wonwinglo** · 22-08-2004

Chris,wonderful club spirit and your facilities are first class,just goes to show what can be done,this is all about putting in the time and dedication and also that one essential ingredient-Enthusiasm,the later is highly infectious ! to emulate is not just to copy but to give a firm grounding as to what can be achieved by the youngster,more power to you.

**wonwinglo** · 22-08-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluewavestudios

and in reply to Wonwinglo...yes my father was my mentor too, he was an army pilot (On both fixed wing and Heli's) I can still remember my very early years when he would build balsa planes covered in tissue and dope, wind up the rubber on the prop and launch them from the bedroom window so I could watch.
He taught me how to build those myself and would keep a watchful eye over me whilst I did them, When I progressed into R/C, he knew I had learnt enough and left me to it....although still giving the odd bit of advice here and there

. now 28 years down the line....I am teaching my 15 year old nephew the same, he is only on cars at the moment, he has sailed a couple of my boats but definitely has his eye on my Helicopters...!!! mmmmmmmm

It is nice to see the youngsters coming into the hobby though and realising that r/c models are a whole different ball game to computer games....ie no quick restarts...if you crash it is for real....My Nephew understands this now and has much respect for his car, he has also learnt very quickly how to set up i/c engines and how to maintain them so my knowledge is not wasted...!!!

and in final tribute to my father, the last aircraft he flew regularly in the Army was a DH2 Beaver......Of which I now have a very nice scale example under construction, 8 ft wingspan powered by an MVVS .40 Diesel....(I have numerous photos of the real thing to get all the scale bits right, even from from my little jaunts up in one in the back seats...!!!).....I even have a genuine Beaver clock on my desk...!!!

Regards............Mark

***Army Air Corps,excellent training,I can see we have a lot in common Bluewave,those small models stood me in good stead over the years and I have not forgotton my roots,still build them and go over the local race course flying over the long grass.
Airsail did a Beaver which apparently is a great flyer,we had an example at Baginton fitted with an Alvis Leonides ( G-ANAR ) as opposed to the Pratt & Witney,with a few degrees of flap in a stiff breeze she would climb out steeply,love those diesels,the smell and ability to turn big props.
My desk paperweight is a German bomber slave directional compass,in the middle is a small picture of the planform of an Heinkel bomber.
Picked this up when a batch of aircraft instruments came into the stores,they were going to ditch it as no use in modern aircraft but gave it to me instead.

Uncivil Serpent · 22-08-2004

Hi All,

Forgot to mention the one really big downside on the club side. The water in the two ponds, or rather lakes, as one is one third of a mile long, is salt water. No problem if you build the models with that in mind, but for a few it causes a real problem, salt water and electricity etc:

Oh well, can't win them all. Just make sure the model is properly watertight.

By the way, open day on Sunday 19th September if anyone is down this way, be more than pleased to see you here.

Chris

**Bluewavestudios** · 22-08-2004

Yes, I remember the Airsail Beaver Kit, Nice model too, I actually saw one of these built and hanging up in local Model shop a few years back.

The one I am building is from the Complete-a-pac range (Traplet now handle the plans for this range and the Beaver is there), It is bigger than the Airsail model and there is an optional FibreGlass cowl available for it too. I have this of course......It will need a slight mod to the cowl for the Army Air Corps Version but nothing major. I have ample scale references to work from.

Regards..........Mark.