On the 8th of October 2000 scouts from 1st Berowra Scout Troop will enjoy aeromodelling first hand. They will go to Kuringai Model Flying field where they will get some demonstrations of Aerobatics, Racing and combat, as well as some hands on experiance flying some trainers. As well as this the scouts will be making a trainer/combat plane, one each. The planes foam wing design enables many to be built in a short time. The plane is called a 'Bushcat', it is a modified peacemaker with a foam wing. It is fully aerobatic and great for combat as it is strong and quick to built. By doing this we hope to encourage some new young flyers and get numbers up in the control-line world. I will put some photos up after the day.
The Air activities day went very well. The scouts arrived at our flying field at about 9am ready to build a plane and witness controlline aircraft (for many of them for the first time). First up we showed some planes flying to get their interest up so they wouldn't drift off during the construction stage. The demonstrations went for awhile. First I flew my bush cat, which was the plane that they were going to make. Even my fairly basic aerobatic display consisting only of inside loops got the scouts interested. Next we demonstrated a race with two of the clubs teams putting on 5min rat race. The scouts found the race very exciting and they all stayed and watched right till the end. After the race I had a combat bout against the runner up at the national champs. He used his aerobatic skills to get a cut on me after flying inverted for a couple of laps. A short while after this we had a line tangle and I crashed. The plane was stuffed so I couldn't get back up but the scouts enjoyed it anyway. After the bout the winners of the combined speed at the 2000 N.S.W state champs flew their class one speed plane. I don't think the scouts realised just how fast these things were. Then an aerobatic display was given and 2hours after arrival it was time to start building the planes. By the end of the day all the scouts had a fuselage, a tailplane and spars and leading edges. The planes will be completed shortly at the scout hall. All day I flew the trainer giving all 16 scouts a few flights each. I managed to avoid a crash by keeping a firm grip on the handle and talking the scout through the flight. In a few weeks time the scout will return to Kuring-gai model flying field ready to fly their own plane with the use of a shared engine. The scouts had good fun.
A week later we met up with a few club members and the scouts to try to complete their planes. Almost all of them turned up (which is good for a saturday) and we began construction. The planes now have all the foam in them but unfortunately we didn't reach the stage that we would have liked to. Oh well we have to have another day but i'm sure the scouts won't mind they are very enthusiastic. In a few weeks we'll take them back to st.ives and we will give them a fly of their own plane.