AdamZ
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2005
- Messages
- 14,866
- Location
- Montgomery County PA
- Display Name
Display name:
Adam Zucker
Well, Wednesday evening was my Aviation presentation at Wings field to my daughters Brownie Troop. First don't ever believe that a eleven 9 year old girls have less energy than boys! WOW! I offer these comments incase anyone is interested in making a presentation to a group of kids about aviation and does not have the benefit of a young eagles type program.
First I ordered a packet from AOPA that had a Presenters guide. Aviation activity books with connect the dots,word searches etc Aviation fact books that have an exploded view of a plane showing the different parts. It also has a section on the forces involved in flying ie lift thrust etc. and Future Pilot Wings pins. Angel Flight East also gave me some good booty for the girls such as pens on a rope, note pads and balsa wood airplanes.
I started with " What is General Aviation"? We talked about Traffic reporting, Business travel, Traveling to out of the way places, Angel Flights, Med-Evac.
I asked them what skills they learn in school are needed for aviation. They were pretty good. They all got math, communication and map reading. When I asked why math was important they even responded with things like " you have to know how long it will take you to get there" and you have to know how much gas the plane will need.
I showed them a sectional ( stayed away from the low alt charts). One girl asked when discussing communications how people in the tower or on the ground can hear you in the air. A perfect segway to pull out my transceiver so they could listen to traffic at Wings. We discussed what the pilots in the pattern were telling us when they reported their position.
We discussed weather and Safety especially on the ramp. I was going to show them the weather and flight planning programs but I would have lost them I think.
My daughter said it was the best meeting the troop ever had. The kids were funny. They all insisted on telling me stories about their experiences flying. Like the time Suzy flew to Seattle or the little girl who flew in a small plane in Vermont that went about 100 mile high". Its amazing what we take for granted. I'm sure we all can sit at an airport and not notice a plane taking off or landing. EVERY time a plane took off the girls shot up from the table and pointed at it screaming that high shrill that only a 9yo girl can manage. Out of eleven girls only two (2) girls including my daughter had ever been in a GA aircraft.
The highlight of the presentation was when we went out to the ramp and the girls got to see and sit in a 172. Once again Montgomery County Aviation was great. The pulled the 172 to the top of the ramp and gave me the keys to the plane and a place to have the meeting. While we were out there I went over all the control surfaces and how the yoke and rudders made them move. We got a photo of each girl sitting in the pilots seat. At the end I gave the girls all the booty. They absolutely love it.
Here is the kicker. Usually a parent drops their daughter off at the brownie meeting and picks them up an hour and a half later. This time a good number of the parents stayed some girls had both parents there along with brothers and sisters. They ALL wanted to hear about airplanes. At the end I asked who wanted to learn to be a pilot after hearing my talk. Guess who raised their hands? The girls of course but also all of the dads and a few of the moms as well. I was happy to help the girls but I really felt good that I was able to do some positive PR for General Aviation.
Below are some of the Photos from the Presentation. As you can see the grill from the Fly-B-Q did not infact get vaporized.
First I ordered a packet from AOPA that had a Presenters guide. Aviation activity books with connect the dots,word searches etc Aviation fact books that have an exploded view of a plane showing the different parts. It also has a section on the forces involved in flying ie lift thrust etc. and Future Pilot Wings pins. Angel Flight East also gave me some good booty for the girls such as pens on a rope, note pads and balsa wood airplanes.
I started with " What is General Aviation"? We talked about Traffic reporting, Business travel, Traveling to out of the way places, Angel Flights, Med-Evac.
I asked them what skills they learn in school are needed for aviation. They were pretty good. They all got math, communication and map reading. When I asked why math was important they even responded with things like " you have to know how long it will take you to get there" and you have to know how much gas the plane will need.
I showed them a sectional ( stayed away from the low alt charts). One girl asked when discussing communications how people in the tower or on the ground can hear you in the air. A perfect segway to pull out my transceiver so they could listen to traffic at Wings. We discussed what the pilots in the pattern were telling us when they reported their position.
We discussed weather and Safety especially on the ramp. I was going to show them the weather and flight planning programs but I would have lost them I think.
My daughter said it was the best meeting the troop ever had. The kids were funny. They all insisted on telling me stories about their experiences flying. Like the time Suzy flew to Seattle or the little girl who flew in a small plane in Vermont that went about 100 mile high". Its amazing what we take for granted. I'm sure we all can sit at an airport and not notice a plane taking off or landing. EVERY time a plane took off the girls shot up from the table and pointed at it screaming that high shrill that only a 9yo girl can manage. Out of eleven girls only two (2) girls including my daughter had ever been in a GA aircraft.
The highlight of the presentation was when we went out to the ramp and the girls got to see and sit in a 172. Once again Montgomery County Aviation was great. The pulled the 172 to the top of the ramp and gave me the keys to the plane and a place to have the meeting. While we were out there I went over all the control surfaces and how the yoke and rudders made them move. We got a photo of each girl sitting in the pilots seat. At the end I gave the girls all the booty. They absolutely love it.
Here is the kicker. Usually a parent drops their daughter off at the brownie meeting and picks them up an hour and a half later. This time a good number of the parents stayed some girls had both parents there along with brothers and sisters. They ALL wanted to hear about airplanes. At the end I asked who wanted to learn to be a pilot after hearing my talk. Guess who raised their hands? The girls of course but also all of the dads and a few of the moms as well. I was happy to help the girls but I really felt good that I was able to do some positive PR for General Aviation.
Below are some of the Photos from the Presentation. As you can see the grill from the Fly-B-Q did not infact get vaporized.
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