Welcome To T&S Aeroschool UK

Aeromodelling is an exciting dynamic technical and rewarding sport with oodles of content in science, technology, core skills, dynamics, craft skills and outdoor fun. 

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Curriculum

Our curriculum covers loads and loads of STEM. As a site we have plenty of uncontrolled airspace for flying things. We're getting into FPV for testing our creations to the limit. FPV is when you fly the aircraft from a camera view onboard the aircraft. This is done safely and legally under our own operator licences and student 'buddy' controllers. We are members of the BMFA and CAA registered.

We train our young pilots about safety, the law and consideration for others. We are pushing the envelope in terms of testing our aircraft for performance using various telemetry and on screen displays, video and slow motion recordings.

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Distance Learning

We want to encourage people to come from further afield and so we operate two timetables to accommodate local and more remote applicants.

We provide mobile sessions to groups based around the UK are also developing fully online courses.

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Cost

Our STEM courses work out at about £10 per hour with additional fees if your child wants to take hardware home, but we are able to use relatively inexpensive and ecological materials extensively when using CAD CAM. So building aircraft need not involve costly materials.

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Monday sessions

The local group is held on alternate Mondays for four hours fortnightly. This is an annual curriculum that leads to the possible entry of a national competition to build a remote controlled plane to carry a payload.

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Wednesdays

The Wednesday group is fortnightly 4 hours to face session with intermediate Zoom sessions and expected home study/ design work. The brief and content is per Monday.

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Friday sessions 

The local group is held on Fridays for two hours weekly and is designed for mid term inclusions and a younger age group.

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Aeroschool Uk Mobile 

T&S Aeroschool Mobile is a series of 2 hr glider flying sessions where a group of up to 20 participants explore the rudiments of flight.

We make use of our 'launchpad' range of kits that are inexpensive cardboard gliders that can be customised to taste.

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Key to this is our secret weapon - the gravity launcher. Hand launchers that are based on elastic bands are difficult to aim, standardise and provide any meaningful basis for competition and calibration. They also accelerate gliders too rapidly which leads to structural failure of more delicate airframes. Hand based launchers/catapults etc are also difficult to moderate and control in the context of a confined space which can represent a safety issue.

 

The object is actually to bring your group to a point of autonomy not dependency. Unlike the need to continually purchase products our course sets you up to make and test gliders with minimal expense and maximum creativity.

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Our gravity launcher can be purchased as a DIY kit or fully built. Our glider templates will provide you with a guide to hand-making our pre designed gliders and after that your own creations from cardboard which can be trialled tested and developed with the use of basic card cutting and fixing tools. You can of course purchase our Laser cut card glider sets for groups for whom the use of craft knives etc might be problematic.

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Aeroschool Uk Online (AO)

Aeroschool Uk online begins with access to our 'launchpad'

Like Aeroschool Uk, Aeroschool Uk Mobile will involve posting out our kits and laser cut components that you have designed. This is a natural extension of our visiting you. 

 

There will be a cost to Laser Cutting pro rata for kits, zoom time, prep time and postage. However, this could involve high numbers of participants resulting in significant sharing of costs bringing the session cost down. Please contact us if interested.

 

Universal Facilities for distance learning

All our CAD software is available for home use and we operate a mail service for parts designed and laser cut for assembly and testing at home.

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Applications

To apply for all Aeroschool Uk courses we would like you to share with us something about your interests and experience. We want to match the course to your needs or suggest what other courses we offer might suit your needs better. Please visit us for our info sessions .

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Content

We make lots of gliders using cardboard. We make models of real planes and also 'original' gliders of your own design. We can scale these up and make bigger and bigger versions until they are large enough to put motors and control systems in. Airframes can be made using a variety of techniques and the course involves the progressive lightening and strengthening of structures. You will test your products to destruction if necessary and get very used to crashes and mishaps. We extensively use video (slo-mo) to scrutinise the aircraft for flight behaviour including First Person View video with On Screen Display of the aircraft speed, altitude, battery life and power consumption etc.

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Collaborative software

Miro, 2DDesign, ProDesktop and Dropbox.

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Who is Aeroschool Uk for?

Aeroschool Uk is attended by children and young adults from age 7​​​ to 19 who:

• are school or home educated and seek access to a quality STEM provision 

• seek extension and challenge particularly in technological subjects.

• prefer to work experimentally to make functioning purposeful outcomes

• may benefit from learning to work in a small group.

• attend a youth club which has an interest in STEM 

• may need to learn functional skills in the context of practical purposeful projects

• may have anxiety issues that are a barrier to learning

• may have characteristics that present a barrier to learning in school environment

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​Aero Solutions 

• We tour a range of Aero based activities sessions off our own site such as youth clubs, school lessons, HE activities and festivals.

• We also sell our educational products to venues such as Shuttleworth Collection and the Museum of Berkshire Aviation

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Design Content

We provide a unique incremental curriculum of Design Technology contextualised in 'flight' . This challenges some of the existing educational strategies offered by other organisations but seeks to de mystify flight and prove each principle by experimentation and consistent demonstration.

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We cover

• Briefs and Specifications

• Design Process

• Research and Development strategies

• Testing and Evaluating

• Structures

• Control systems

• Sub-systems

• Avionics

• Aerodynamics

• Making Techniques

• Data gathering

• Critical Thinking

• History

• Materials and properties

• Ethics

• Teamwork

• Communications skills

• Aesthetics, Ergonomics

• Safety

• and er . . . 

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Progressive and Rigorous Flight Curriculum

Our original range of educational kits, accessories, activities, drawings and concepts have been developed from years of practice.

 

Our kits are designed to sequentially teach flight principles, isolating each principle strategically so that the young mind can be convinced of the theory - or to challenge it.

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Whilst clearly fun - chucking gliders around a room or a field without any control over speed and direction can be frustrating when trying to finely trim a glider.  The launch is all important and very difficult to repeat precisely enough to be at all scientific. This tends to frustrate those with greater interest in the science of flight. Children will more readily play with cars and drones that offer stability and predictability.

 

We can control 'risk' much more readily these days - the technology is here and so we need to make use of it. Stabilised flight, robust materials, flight training solutions safe power trains.

 

Our products are designed to be flown in a way that demonstrates principles of flight, reduce risk of loss, damage and injury and make the whole experience more enjoyable for the inquiring mind.

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Building resilience  - Learning from mistakes

Our students develop their understanding accumulatively so that failure in something is followed by something more successful next time around. This is a vital concept unavailable to most university students who rarely test their aircraft prior to competitive flight.

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How can I access Aeroschool Uk? - 

You can access Aeroschool Uk in a number of ways. We have an application form for you to share with us some of your experiences, ideas and aspirations before we agree what course would suit you.

• come to us in Northamptonshire for our group sessions for school children (Alternative Education Provision) and other groups for Home Educators.

• Sign up for our online course when available, buy our educational kits and schemes of work online for independent learning. Join our remote group work and meetups during the year.

• Book us to visit you or your group with our Mobile workshop!

• Come to one of our annual Aerocamps at venues like Shuttleworth,  BMFA Buckminster or at home in Irthlingborough.

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Products - see our online shop

• Cardboard glider kits

• Custom kits for model aircraft you can buy yourself

• Schemes of work

• Gravity launcher

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Achievement Schemes you can do

• BMFA Flying achievement schemes

• Bronze CREST awards for testing aero principles

• Silver and Gold CREST awards for entering the BMFA Payload Challenges.

• 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.