Aeroplanes (Airplanes to you Americans)

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Aspie
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Aeroplanes (Airplanes to you Americans)

Postby Aspie » Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:33 am


momo3boys
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Postby momo3boys » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:31 pm

thank you, I look forward to seeing what develops

:oops: I'm sorry if i didn't get back to you, sometimes i have too much "help" on the computer and I lose what i haven't seen
Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Aspie
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Postby Aspie » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:24 pm


John Smith
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Airplanes - aviation

Postby John Smith » Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:17 am

I am not sure how valuable this will be to the home school community. When I was 15.5 I earned my pilot's license for fixed wing aircraft. A few years later I was in the Army learning how to fly helicopters.

When I was around nine years of age I began building plastic models of any airplane kit I could find. My parent's were okay with the first couple, but after thirty or fourty I was pushing things to their limit. I continued building however I did not keep them all. I became proficient at building these models and sold them to my friends.

From plastic models I went onto balsa wood kits. From the kits to building from simple plans. The plans are similar to what women use to cut out and create dresses or other clothing. At first these models were display only. I then progressed into U-control aircraft. A u-control aircraft is controlled by cables or wires. The u-control plane has a gas engine and the cables attached through the wing assembly. This type of aircraft is flown by the operator holding the control handle and turning in a circle as the plane flies its circular path. Later I evolved into building radio controlled aircraft which do not have the limitations of the u-control wires or cables.

As a youth I attended public schools. For my science projects I always built an aircraft. One year I built a wind tunnel using cardboard boxes and a fan. By suspending a wing airfoil and dumping in flour from the top of the boxes while the fan was on I was able to show how a wing created lift as you could view the flour cloud stream through the plexiglass side window. This wind tunnel was very inexpensive.

I lived a few miles from the Fullerton California airport at the time. When I was about 14 I would use the afternoons after school to go to the airport. I loved to watch the aircraft take off and land. I eventually discovered an opportunity to wash the aircraft for a flying club. I traded aircraft washing for flight time. It took me a year and a half to get my skills sufficient to pass and receive my pilot's license. In the U. S. the requirement to attain your pilot's license is approximately 40 hours of flight time. Most people do it in about 60 hours. It took me over 95 hours to attain the skill level needed to safely fly the aircraft. Where people who could afford to take lessons flew regularly, I had to wait until I had accrued enough cash to pay for the next hour's lesson. I would forget alot between lessons.

Flying was so important to me, that I did not learn how to drive a car until I was eighteen. I remember being teased by my high school friends.

Every child has a different learning style. My learning style is to be hands on. I have difficulty grasping concepts from books alone. Building and flying models allowed me to understand the physics of why and how aircraft are able to fly.

To my disappointment my children did not have an interest in flying. We have home schooled all of our children at one time or another. Home schooling does not have to be expensive. My wife and I are attentive to their interests, then search out the resources they need to fulfill their curiosity.

When someone has an interest in flying; what are all the subjects they need to master in order to fulfill their curiosity? They need to read. They need to increase their vocabulary. Math is required in building aircraft if they are to fly without immediately crashing. The angles of the vertical stabilizer, ailerons, etcetera must be set properly. Even history is studied because of an interest in flight. This list is very incomplete. I have found that we did not need to force our children to learn a subject when they were enthralled in discovery.

I hope this is of value to others.
Thank you,

John Smith
HomeSchoolResourceNetwork.com
If we can remain positive - all things are possible!
Assisting families with education options based on life's governing principles.

Sheepdog
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Postby Sheepdog » Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:26 am

Get your kids a copy of the Microsoft flight simulator. The "old" "Century of Flight" edition (eBay) would be fine. No need for "proper" yoke, pedals or EXPENSIVE joystick... but a basic one is "necessary". Go USB... doubt you can find the old type now anyway.

Yes, they will "play". Yes they will moan that the shoot-em-up flight sims are "better". But they will get incredible exercise for their little gray cells if they become even moderately involved in the flying they can do that way.

If you have the cash, spring for a "discovery flight" at your local flying school. Twenty minutes in a small plane and they will never see "life" the same way again!

Ask around... you may have a friend who can fly, be it a real plane or a simulator. Give him/her a chance to show the kids things that will take them forever to learn by trial and error.

Tom
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http://sheepdogsoftware.co.uk


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