Teaching High School students how to fly

By Marlin Linger [email protected]  | Photos by Dave Cook & the author

As seen in the February 2023 issue of Model Aviation.

To introduce a new generation of students to model aircraft and the Lorain County RC Club (LCRC; Northern Ohio, west of Cleveland), I contacted the robotics clubs at three local high schools to see if our club could develop a relationship with them and teach their students to fly RC aircraft.

Jeannine Stape, the robotics instructor at Elyria High School (EHS) in Elyria, Ohio, was interested in having her students learn to build and fly RC aircraft and to have our club members assist with the process. Our club members were delighted.

These students were part of the robotics group STEAM class led by instructor Jeannine Stape.

This had never been done at EHS before, so we were starting at ground zero. There was no curriculum and no budget established for this program for two dozen students. I put together a proposed curriculum that I hoped would engage the students, as well as a list of supplies that wouldn’t break the school’s budget. The school liked the plan, so we were off and running.

For the lecture portion of the course, instructors from our club gave presentations on the operation and flight of RC aircraft. In addition, I assembled a set of Flite Test YouTube videos that covered a wide range of RC aircraft topics, which were presented in a light-hearted manner. They were ideal for a group of high school students.

A stack of aircraft waits to be flown by the students who constructed them.

The students had a great time building the aircraft that they would soon fly. As with most modelers, opinions were split about whether it is more fun to build or to fly.

For the lab portion of the course, we obtained a Flite Test Mighty Mini Tiny Trainer aircraft. This laser-cut, foam board aircraft comes with two wings: a dihedral glider wing and an aerobatic aileron wing. It goes together with hot melt glue.

Because the students had no previous exposure to model aircraft, our instructors provided daily, hands-on assistance to the participants. Our club secretary, Mike Peck, built a pair of the Tiny Trainer airplanes for the students to use as visual models. The Tiny Trainer also has a complete build video on YouTube provided by Flite Test. A link can be found in the "Sources" section. The EHS classroom is video equipped, so the students were able to construct their aircraft by following along with the video.

For radio gear, I chose the FlySky FS-i6 six-channel radio and receiver. This capable, spread-spectrum, six-channel computer radio with a receiver is available for roughly $60. Its operation is well described on YouTube. Videos are posted there covering nearly everything a beginner needs to know in order to set up the radio in an aircraft. It is an ideal trainer radio and at the right price point for school use.

Working in groups of two or three, the two dozen students spent several weeks during spring semester of 2022 building their aircraft with our club members’ assistance. Everyone found out that there is more to building one of these aircraft than meets the eye. After the aircraft were assembled, the students took their airplanes to the school gym to test their glide characteristics in unpowered flight.

The students were able to fly indoors and at the club field.

On Friday, May 13, 2022, the big day arrived for actual outdoor test flights. Jeannine and her students boarded a school bus with their aircraft and drove to our flying field. The weather was excellent. After some initial briefings and photo shoots, each team of students and their airplane paired up with an LCRC flight instructor equipped with a buddy box.

Instructor Bill Reed buddy-boxed the students, allowing them a chance to learn the basics of flight.

Some of the students who took part in building and flying.

The students were excited. They all wanted to fly their creations. Some were even arguing over which team member would get to fly first. It wasn’t long before the sky was filled with airplanes. It was similar to attending Flite Test’s Flite Fest in Malvern, Ohio, with foam board airplanes of all colors filling the sky.

The students soon observed the difference in flight characteristics between gliders with dihedral wings and aerobatic aircraft with straight wings and ailerons. They also discovered the relative control issues between airplanes with the two types of wings. On at least one occasion, I found myself in the middle of a local farmer’s field recovering the remnants of one of those educational experiences.

With a day of flying under their belts and a lunchtime feast served by club chef Hany Koury, the students had a great time. One of the students remarked that the experience was their "best field trip ever!"

It was a field trip not soon to be forgotten.

An event such as this does not happen without a great team behind it. Many thanks go to Neil Mabrouk, who did much of the legwork at the high school and club field, while also heading up the group of LCRC instructors who did the classroom teaching. That group of instructors included Bill Reed, Dave Cook, Mike Peck, Paul Alonge, Rocky Santantonio, Hany Koury, and me.

Instructor Jeannine inspects one of the aircraft.

Our special thanks also go to Jeannine, Kathy Koepp, and the robotics class at EHS for allowing us the privilege to work with them. This was an adventure for us, and we look forward to working with them in the future.

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