Talking to (little) kids about flying

Jim K

Jim K

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I've been asked to give a presentation about aviation to my youngest's 4H group. Age group is 5-7, so I'm mainly worried about holding their interest and not going over their heads. Planning to take a few toys I have to pass around and the model I have of my plane to show. Thinking of just going with the four forces of flight and a simple explanation of balance (nose/tail, why the tail is there, explain it like a teeter-totter). Also thinking of bringing an RC plane so I can show how the control surfaces move.

Any other ideas? Maybe a picture of a transport jet next to a piston plane?

One of the group leader's suggestions was paper airplanes. I don't like paper airplanes and am not good at making them, and I don't think they give a good demonstration of how airplanes work. Maybe folding some elevons on the back of them to show how that affects their flight?
 
If you really want to get them interested in aviation, pass around copies of the FAR/AIM.

Really though, kids that age love hands-on stuff. They run towards the exhibits in the museums where they can put their little sticky hands on interactive doohickeys. Do you happen to have any yoke/stick/throttle/pedals (maybe a stretch but worth an ask). Like from a sim or similar? So that you can explain how the controls work from the pilot's perspective. (Pull yoke, cows get smaller, push yoke, cows get bigger, etc)
 
Start with Navier-Stokes equations and see where the kids take the conversation from there...

(Sorry, I know that wasn't helpful, but couldn't resist)

I wouldn't get into four forces with that age group. Instead, talk about what they feel when they stick their hand out of a fast moving car. What makes hand go up, go down? What makes it feel like their arm is getting ripped off? What keeps their arm moving forward? etc

If you can get some 99 cent Balsa gliders or the rubber band wind up prop Balsa planes to give away, you'll be golden in their eyes. Do no give out until the end tho.


(I guess they're not 99 cents anymore)
 
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Maybe for balance get one (or a couple, in case they crash) of the balsa rubber band airplanes or gliders and show what happens if the cg is too far back or too far forward. You can also tape tabs to the wings and tail to show the effect of control surfaces.
 
Van Johnston said:
Instead, talk about what they feel when they stick their hand out of a fast moving car
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Do kids still do that? The only vehicle I drive around with the windows down is my '97 pickup with broken air conditioning. I'm not sure this is a universal experience any more.

I wish I had thought of the gliders earlier. My kids have gotten so many over the years that it never registered that it might be a novelty for most of the others. Unfortunately that ship has sailed because I'm supposed to be doing this tomorrow.

Our eaa chapter president is a teacher...I bet she has some ideas. I should probably plug young eagles, too.
 
If you hand out toys, they'll be busy going NEEEEOOOOOOWWWW instead of engaging with you.

You can set up a box fan with a little foam glider tied to it. It's fussy, but if you get it just right, it will sort of fly.

I'd just bring a bunch of conversation starter questions like:

what happens if the engine stops?
why do jets leave trails behind them?
the usual GA advocacy:
* yes, I can fly at night or in clouds
* no, I generally don't need to file a flight plan for VFR
etc
 
Jim K said:
Do kids still do that? The only vehicle I drive around with the windows down is my '97 pickup with broken air conditioning. I'm not sure this is a universal experience any more.

I wish I had thought of the gliders earlier. My kids have gotten so many over the years that it never registered that it might be a novelty for most of the others. Unfortunately that ship has sailed because I'm supposed to be doing this tomorrow.
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If kids don't stick their hands out of moving vehicles anymore then that is yet another sign of the decay of our civilization. Aren't these farm kids though?

Amazon Prime will deliver those gliders for free between 5 and 10 pm today on order of $25 or more.
 
Do you have an old headset that you can pass around? A short video clip is helpful as an attention grabber for that age as well. My 7 year old loves to fly but even so, she's not into theory of flight (go figure, right?) But she loves looking down at buildings she can recognize. And of course she loves going upside down.

Just the fact that you are doing it is a big "good-on-ya". Showing kids that there's a great big world out there with all kinds of things to do is very important - way to go!

(pic for fun)
ZRoll4.jpg
 
A couple thoughts...

Kids that age are always in the "are we there yet?" mode. They don't care that much about forces of flight and such.

So tell them about the fun of not being stuck in traffic, being ableto fly over the cars and getting to the destination twice as fast. Use an example of a popular nearby destination that might be of interest to them.

If you have time, build a little wind tunnel to demonstrate aircraft control.

One of the gadgets I bring with me is an old vacuum-powered turn and bank indicator. One half of the case is removed so you can see the rotor and spool it up with a duster spray. I can then talk about how we stay upright when we can't see outside. Good way to transition from their spinning tops to gyroscopic instruments.
 
You can borrow my presentation, entitled "Hey nephew, make yourself useful and tie down the plane" :)

1768318362067.png

This is the only slide however. You may need to stretch it with patter. :D
 
At our last EAA meeting the president of our chapter did a presentation on the four forces for the kids. They were a bit older but a couple of his examples might be useful. You may have watched where two empty soda cans are placed about a quarter inch apart and using a straw to blow air between them makes them come together. Or where a ping pong ball is held in place inside an upside down funnel as air is blown through it.

The youngsters at our EAA meeting so were riveted (pun intended) to his presentation that he did it twice ...
 
Van Johnston said:
Amazon Prime will deliver those gliders for free between 5 and 10 pm today on order of $25 or more.
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Not out in the boonies...Thursday here. They do have some foam ones (which are cheaper anyway) that they claim they can get here tomorrow though. I'd have to buy 72 of them. Maybe I could bring the extras to rough river and we could tape (JATO) bottle rockets to them :biggrin:.

Chapter prez. had some good ideas about getting them engaged. She has a worksheet to match airplane parts on a drawing to their names. Need to figure out if I'll have a screen that I can show pictures on and exactly how much time I have to fill. She says she's usually surprised with how much little kids know, especially about military planes.


Got my big (1.5m) foam RC plane working...It's big and has moving ailerons, rudder, and elevators, and makes noise... I think that will hold their attention and we can talk about the parts of the plane.

MauleSkinner said:
Bring aerial pictures along of your farm, crops, the town you’re doing this presentation in, stuff like that, for perspective.
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Ooh I like that. I'll have to see if I have anything they'd recognize.
 
Bring some clouds as show and tell. Ask 6er how to do that.

I’d keep it to “ooooh” and “aaaah” stuff based on their ages.
 
I'm sure it's different for everyone, but a casual mention of the different ways they can "grow up to fly airplanes" might be good.

I grew up in a rural area and was relatively uneducated about aviation until I was an adult. I'd always been told, or maybe inferred incorrectly, that the only path to being a pilot was via the military. That's been several decades now so things may be different, but in my 20's when I saw one of those 1-800-you-can-fly ads on some satellite channel (was there an aviation channel on DirecTV or Dish in the late 90's/2000's?) I was dumbstruck. :D
 
Took my buddy and his 5 year old flying for their first flight in a small plane. Did a pre flight. Showed them what everything did. Maybe 5 minutes. Maybe. Any questions?

"Can we go to Culver's?!" Sigh.

Heading back to the airport dad asks his son what he thought. "I'm bored"

Steep turn!! Actually... I'll take boredom over crying and vomit.
 
How high do you fly? How do you decide (clouds, wind, speed, ice)?
 
I did a presentation to a group of kids that age on saloons and gambling.

Didn’t go over too well…….
 
Keep it short, most kids that age have an attention span of a goldfish. Tell them how fun it is, maybe a short story, then ask if they have questions. Prepare for some real doozies.
 
GoFly said:
Keep it short, most kids that age have an attention span of a goldfish. Tell them how fun it is, maybe a short story, then ask if they have questions. Prepare for some real doozies.
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Any questions, kids.??

Yes little Timmy, what is your question.??

Will there be any refreshments.??
 
Zeldman said:
Any questions, kids.??

Yes little Timmy, what is your question.??

Will there be any refreshments.??
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Kid I flew wanted cheese curds and custard. Dammit, I did too.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Oh, @Jim K don’t forget to take a strip of paper and blow over the top to show how wings make lift! :biggrin:
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Daleandee said:
At our last EAA meeting the president of our chapter did a presentation on the four forces for the kids. They were a bit older but a couple of his examples might be useful. You may have watched where two empty soda cans are placed about a quarter inch apart and using a straw to blow air between them makes them come together. Or where a ping pong ball is held in place inside an upside down funnel as air is blown through it.

The youngsters at our EAA meeting so were riveted (pun intended) to his presentation that he did it twice ...
Click to expand...

I''ll take "Fun demo's that have nothing to do with Bernoulli's principle" for $200.

They do, however show that flow curvature generates a pressure gradient (Newton's second law) which results in lift.

Please don't use the "B" word.
 
alright, got the rc airplane working, made an "airplane parts" matching worksheet, printed some pictures, made a paper airfoil (hat tip: Vintage Blue Barn). I think I have 20m of material, so I shouldn't run out, and I think I have enough noise and movement to keep little kids engaged. Appreciate the ideas. Hopefully I won't have to resort to hookers & blow or bonanzas.

IMG_20260113_170733217_HDR (1).jpg
 
If all else fails just open up the daily pic thread. Show them the wonders of the country from the air and explain how were fortunate compared to almost every where else in the world to be able to see things from above.

7 year old me would zonk out hearing airfoil. Hell, 35 year old me does.
 
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