Flight Camp - the conclusion

The last two days of flight camp were just as full and fabulous as the first two. Thankfully my level of teaching was decreased those two days, so Bug-a-Boo and I were able to get a bit of rest. Wednesday the kids studied Newton’s Laws, applying them to flight and doing several experiments which demonstrated them. They then applied what they had learned by making a shelter for “Eggbert” which would keep him safe on a flight across the classroom. Over lunch they watched a Bill Nye video, then headed to the computer room where they were all able to fly the same cross-country flight as the day before on Microsoft Flight Simulator using yokes and rudder pedals made just for that. This way they got to do a lot more of the actual “flying” on the simulator than they did in the real plane without the danger of crashing. I think they may have also done a lesson on goal setting and the dangers of smoking and drinking. If so, they got to examine two pig’s lungs – one “normal” and one made to show the effects of smoking on a human lung. It’s a very vivid, concrete lesson that I think really cements the dangers in kids minds and helps them make more informed choices.

When Bug-a-Boo and I headed in to flight camp after his nap, we met the kids at the park next door to the airport. We had planned a picnic dinner at a spot with a great view overlooking the runways. It was too cold for that, so I brought out some balls and a Frisbee, and the kids enjoyed some free-time while we watched planes come in over our heads. That was really neat. At one point two police officers were walking down the path toward us, and my automatic reaction was that we were going to get in trouble for having this many teenagers at this cool vantage point of the airport. Hubby had actually gotten permission for us to be there, and we were totally legal, but it reminded me of how often teenagers in groups are just assumed to be “up to no good.” Well, these officers were really cool. They actually just wanted to be sure that we were the group that had made the reservation and to tell us about another spot in the park that had just as good or better of a vantage point of the airport and more room to play!

Thursday morning the kids got everything cleaned up and packed up, then we headed back to the park to launch their rockets. Unfortunately it was SNOWING and really windy, so while the rocket launch was great, we were unable to launch the hot air balloons. They saved them, and will hopefully get a chance to launch them at another event later in the year. From there, they watched a slideshow of the camp, then enjoyed a pizza lunch with a local school group. After lunch they joined the local school group to tour a C-130 at the local military base. They all really seemed to enjoy that. After the C-130 tour, they loaded into the vans and began the trip home. My mother-in-law said that the whole way home they had only positive things to say about the camp, and many want to know if they can do it again next year. All in all, I’d say it was quite a success!