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Welcome!

Aeromodelling is

  • more that skills

  • attitudes

  • stratgies

  • wellbeing

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Gliders are universally engaging and this gives us an opportunity for motivating children to learn. But Aeroschool goes on to take a journey through flight and aircraft configuration so there is always more for the deep learner.

 

T&S Aeroschool provides for children who learn best with

  • tangible

  • demonstrable

  • specific

concepts to explore for themselves.

 

Our curriculum is a staged step by step progressive one that builds on observations and skills through to designing and flying RC aircraft. ​​

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WHY AEROMODELLING?

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We didn't start out with aeromodelling - we asked bigger questions that Aeromodelling answered which is why we use it:

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Qu1: How can we inspire children to learn by their mistakes - as we tell them is central in learning?

A: We need a subject that is interesting,engaging, practical, fun where failure is expected and can even be celebrated as part of the activity.

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Qu2: How can we help children develop critical thinking and observational skills

A: We need something that clearly demonstrates the effect of their decisions and actions

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Qu3: How can we reduce the time it takes to recover from disaster so that failure is seen as progress?

A: We need materials and processes that are fast, accurate and rigorous sucg as CAD CAM, slot together resources, spare parts, simple materials that can be scrapped with minimal ecological impact.

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Qu5: How can we teach literacy, numeracy, communication skills, organisation skills, independent learning skills, positive attitudes and teamwork with a sense of challenge that is not burdensome but fun?

A: Aeromodelling touches on aspects of STEM in a way that provides a purpose for aspects of education that many find difficult or unmotivating. Friendly competition and collaboration depersonalise failure in a way that makes iterative learning enjoyable.

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Qu4: What context provides the most opportunity for critical thinkers, accurate and state of the art technicnical ability in practical ways, cyberspace, communications teamwork and is current in our lives, maintains soical credibility and is in need of talented recruits?

A: Aviation/Engineering/Design

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Having found that children are inspired by our curriculum of flight we started to ask about sharing it with others.​​

Having found that children are inspired by our curriculum of flight we started to ask about sharing it with others.

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ACCESS

Aeromodelling is traditionally a home activity where people have resources, a local club and plenty of time and space. Aeromodelling has been a rich breeding ground for budding engineers. We shall refer to it as modelling but these are real aircraft - just smaller! 

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Qu1: how can we make aeromodelling accessible to schools and youth clubs?

 

PACED

Aeromodelling has traditionally attracted and engaged with engineers and the engineering mind. The problem is that e​ngineers arent necessarily the best qualified to 'teach' what they know to children. 

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Qu2: how can we disseminate flight theory to children in a way that is immediately engaging and rewarding?

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CYCLE TIME

Aeromodelling has traditionally been associated with balsawood, tissuepaper, sheds, attics and long winter builds.

 

Qu3 How can we use modern materials and processes to shorten the building process with skills more relevant to young children?

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INTERACTION WITH GLIDERS

Flying has traditionally been done outdoors -

Qu4 how can we fly more in smaller spaces and at the same time observe the flying plane at close quarters?

 

ITERATIVE LEARNING

We learn by our mistakes. However it takes time to develop the tenacity to recover from a serious disaster. Unlike cars and boats, aircraft are frequently destroyed by mishaps. 

Qu5 How can we recover more quickly fom disaster and so make iterative learning more pallatable?

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CASCADING

The aero community is rich with people who have a deep understanding of flight.

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Qu6 How can we bring expert knowledge to bear at the right time for it to be useful to children?

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ISOLATE VARIABLES

Many model planes are available, some with motors, rubber bands, catapults etc. However, these tend to mask any trim adjustment made to an airframe.

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Qu7 How can we provide a learning resource that isolates the variables of flight so that learners can identify cause and effect more accurately?

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PHYSIQUE

Young children find launching a glider quite difficult becasue of their short arms. Catapults are available but these provide a high rate of accelaration that is difficult to quantify. Education sessions often result ina mele of flights around a room which can be frustrating and even hazardous.

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Qu8

How can we control the launch so as to regulate the acceleration, direction and thrust accurately and make it possible for young children to launch gliders independently and safely.​

Not just skills but attitudes and strategies

  • Tenacity

  • Resiliance

  • Courage

  • Confidence

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These are all seen to result from making things fly. Flight is magical but it is also hazardous and making mistakes can be catastrauphic. We embrace failure as a necessary part of progress. This is not just lip-service, it's central to aeromodelling.

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Aeromodelling is where terminology leads to litaracy and performance leads to numeracy. Communication and organisational skills are essential to teamwork and executive skills, organisation, agency all extend from the need to be deliberate and rigourous in making quality products as a team.​​

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AEROSCHOOL UK USP

  • 45 years of aeromodelling experience

  • 32 years of teaching experience

  • 12 years of independent education experience

  • 5 years of curriculum formulation, testing and delivery

  • consecutive wins in national aero team challenges since 205

  • ​​now delivering activities and resources to national centres, organisations and charities

  • mobile STEM bus bringing aeromodelling to you

  • Well equipped eductional centre in midlands to educate and train teachers and students alike

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Aeroschool Sessions

3 HRS WEEKLY

Our sessions are relaxed and fun. Often each student has their own project on the go or perhaps we are building a plane together they will collaborate with skills to a common goal. 

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We often enter the BMFA Payload challenges but this depends on other variables such as exams in June and experience in the team.  Building a payload plane is great fun but there are namy other things to explore such as flying, FPV (First Person View) EDFs (Electric Ducted Fans) FT (Flite Test) Projects and our own challenges at home. We use CAD CAM a lot to do the making accurately. CAD CAM makes it possible to make many prototypes and make small changes in between each one or repair a crashed plane by only re-making the broken part. We use card, foamboard, plywood and balsawood to get quick results that can be repaired quickly if necessary.

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We can do CREST awards if students want to be self motivated (Staff here do not scaffold assessment based achivements as often is done in schools, we can provide strategies but we doine badger students as this may be one reason they sttruggled in school. However we also find that some students are very self motivated to put the hours in to make something ambitious or achieve an award.

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We like to fly as much as possible which includes RTP (Round the Pole) and Control Line. These maintain a closer view of the plane than RC (Radio Control) which we think is important.

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Its a great friendly atmosphere where children learn things they didn't realize until afterwards . . like literacy and nurmeracy, communication skills . . all the stuff they thought they could /would never do.

Aeroschool History

​​2014 - 15

  • Aer0nauts was launched when a small team of students from the local air base came to us to rebuild a Radio controlled Biplane

  • We entered the BMFA Payload Challenges for schools and universities with 'Pig'. The plane barely flew for reasons beyond our then understanding! However we won the prestigious 'Jettex Trophy' after a series of crashes and rebuilds that gained us a lot of sympathy!​​​​​

2015 - 16

  • A new team of home eds. Complete review of our understanding of flight theory. We took the 'Pig' basic format and developed two competing upgrades led by two home educated students. This internal friendly competition led to a single solution with increased empennage area, coned nose, streamlined  propeller intake and dynamically cooled motor. Winners of the BMFA Distance Payload Challenge against three  other teams including one from China. Do watch the video if you haven't seen it!​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​​​​​2017 

  • A new team again this time exploring a front mounted tractor propeller and a thorough modelling of 20 wing/tail combinations around a  basic torpedo fuselage. A last minute change from plywood construction to Depron leading to a our second win of the BMFA Distance Payload Challenge against two other teams.

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  • Plus a second entry, our first in the 'Quantity Challenge' (tennis balls) with 'The Mighty Dorito' built single handedly by our eldest student came 5th overall against  multiple University entries.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​2018

  • Three teams now!!

  • Our youngest team of three ages 11-14 entering the 'Egg-lift challenge' winning their category with 'Yolko-Oh-No'

  • Team of three entering the Distance Challenge (Block of wood) came second

  • Team of two entering the Quantity Challenge (Polystyrene Balls) with 'B-Ryan' failed to compete.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​2019

  • Three teams again;

  • SpaceEggs winning their challenge against two other teams.

  • 'Distance' sporting two wing options in the design process; a delta v a straight wing winning their challenge against two other teams

  • 'Quantity' winning their challenge against 17 universities. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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​​2019 - Present: Freestone Lodge Northamtonshire Uk

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2020 - 21

  • ​Locked down!

  • developing online and mobile provision and local home Education links.

  • Ran an Aeroday to get into RTP flying in the marquee

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2022

  • Wrote Aeroschool Curriculum

  • July Aer0camp with Bus at Shuttleworth

  • Discovery Zone Educational provision at Shuttleworth airshows​​

  • Teaching from the Bus on our site

  • ​Attended Summerhill Centenary with gliders

2023

  • School based activity sessions

  • Building new workshops

  • Teaching from the Bus on farm site

  • Discovery Zone Educational provision at Shuttleworth airshows​​

  • Ran aeroschool workshops at Summerhill Festival of Childhood

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2024

  • Completed workshops

  • Attended all Shuttleworth centenary events and airshows with the bus as hosptitality for us and Airfix ​

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 ​2025

  • First payload challenge in six years with new Aer0nauts team in - we win again this time jointly with a school in Manchester.

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