Introduction - why Aero?
Aero-anything tends to be exciting, dynamic, technical, challenging, frustrating and rewarding. It is understood that an investment of thinking and tenacity is required to make something fly. Kids love flying things, this subject is universally popular despite its challenges.
AeroschoolUK is a unique curriculum of flying things that take you on a journey to understanding and design flying things.
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Iterative - resilience, wellbeing, teamwork
Making things fly engenders a degree of effort, resilience, resolve, pragmatism in to the iterative process involved than many other contexts. This in itself is of great advantage regardless of one's interest in aircraft - it can be used to develop wellbeing, resilience in learning and practical skills. Team skills feature in our groups. Aircraft are made of multiple components each of which can be managed by a different individual. Communication and organisation ensures the group's success.
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STEM
Literacy and Numeracy are delivered almost subliminally at times. The word 'maths' rarely arises but the need to measure, scale, calculate even complex algebra comes up from time to time. The subject is laden with terminology and this can be learned quickly when the concepts involved are so tangible.
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Universally Enjoyable
Flight relates to the defeat of gravity - the greatest physical imposition to all objects of mass and also probably the greatest benefit. Aviation relates to manipulation of the thin air so as to travel and carry payloads and passengers in a constant battle of wits between places of rest. Air is invisible, powerful for one second and then vacuous. The aviator's quest is to to harness this fickle beast. Flight is a kind of 'magic' and those involved with aviation from pilots to airport staff share a highly esteemed community in common.
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Why Gliders? Why not power?
Gliders have been made for centuries if not longer. When you make a glider you build a personal relationship with it because there is nothing between you and it in terms of black box intelligence or governor or stabiliser or power. It becomes your 'baby' and people engage with the gliders they make in a personal way because once you have launched it - it will do what you trimmed it to do in a way that you no longer can control after the launch. In our curriculum we avoid using power systems for some time because it masks the evidence and qualities of good aerodynamic design such as efficiency.
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Aeromodelling has long been the preserve of the budding engineer - How can we access this topic more readily that is loaded with STEM principles IN school, and from an earlier age? How can aero matters be harnessed to benefit all learners regardless of their aspirations towards engineering?
Properly educational products
Iterative learning is the most effective and rewarding way of learning many things. Making gliders is all about iterative learning. Trimming a glider requires tiny adjustments to the surfaces and balance that can only be seen in action by launching with consistency. Designing your own glider is a way of cementing your learning, but many so called educational products do not facilitate modification at all.
All of our products can be reorganised, butchered and reconfigured to explore their effects.
Materials
Balsa-wood, tissue paper etc are traditionally used in aero modelling but in the classroom in the hands of youngsters there are commonly available materials that are cheaper and easier to work and that have appropriate properties.
We standardise on 2.5mm -3mm single-wall corrugated cardboard. Readily available, structurally sound, can be glued, cut and laser cut with ease and without too much fire risk. We also use 'Eflute' white card 1.5mm thick. Glue gun, gaffer tape, HobbyKing wing tape or postal adhesive tape. Poplar Plywood and 3MM Medite MDF.
Launching
Children struggle to throw a glider with any consistency at all and competition is impossible without a standard launch. Once the launch has been perfected children become MORE engaged and determined to achieve flight because an aspect of luck has been isolated and reduced.
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Our launcher standardises the launch. Please don't cut costs by launching by hand. You'll lose the interest of your best engineers. If you don't control the launch direction and velocity the more 'critically' minded will realise that throwing skills, or worse -' luck' plays a big part in success; they'll disengage. If you can't afford our launcher or DIY kit - please make your own! Once launching is trusted as 'fair' and equitable the true 'engineers' will spend hours perfecting their creations.
​​​​​​​​Skills
​Our kits require only very basic skills. Each unit delivers skills as appropriate and only use processes and materials that facilitate easy modification. CAD CAM is used liberally in order to circumavigate this skill issue. Please see our CAD CAM courses that support Aeroschool units. Starting points is a key feature of our products - we don't begin with raw materials until way down the road - its all about modifying our kits.
Remote/Radio Control
How to move from gliders to Radio Control?
Radio control can now be achieved quite inexpensively and flown in a large sports hall. Larger planes will require outdoor access where raft of rules and terms apply 0 and this is a good point at which to access a specialist centre or club if you don't have a sports field and a registered pilot.
T&S is fully registered and qualified to instruct you to learn to fly your own plane.
Challenges
Having beaten gravity the next step is to beat gravity better and better. Competition between designers is key to pushing the boundaries af what can be achieved and part of wellbeing and resilience in life is to embrace this challenge and use it for our benefit. Ground based technology rarely experiences the full judgement exacted on an airframe by gravity and so aero based challenges often result in detruction of various kinds. Aeroschool embrace this and design products to recover from catastrophe as quickly as possible through the use of materials and processes that aniticipate such eventualities and make repair quite straight forward.
Join us in our national challenges
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Products - see our online shop
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Cardboard glider kits
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Custom kits for model aircraft you can buy yourself
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Schemes of work
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Gravity launcher
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Payload Pal - BMFA Payload Challenge resources to get you to the show!
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Achievement Schemes you can do
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National Model Flying achievement schemes
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Bronze CREST awards for testing aero principles
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Silver and Gold CREST awards for entering the BMFA Payload Challenges.
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Scouts badges etc
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Hybrid Delivery and Resourcing
We run online learning and group video sessions and can provide you with all software and video resources you need to run your own club.
We can even laser cut your designs in cardboard and post them back to you!
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Training and Consultancy
Mark is available to train you to deliver our unique resources and or train your staff to deliver Aeroschool UK curriculum.