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Boy Scouts take on aviation
Kearney, Neb. – June 28, 2006 – On Saturday, June 10, 2006, Norman Hand, Chapter 1091’s EAA Young Eagles Coordinator and Terry Gibbs, representing the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Aviation Program, organized a joint Young Eagles and Boy Scouts of America (BSA), Aviation Merit Badge experience at the Kearney Municipal Airport (KEAR). The two had previously discussed the possibility of having such an event when Hand approached Gibbs with details about the upcoming Young Eagles day. Gibbs then developed the materials needed to complete the Aviation Merit Badge and contacted all the troops in the Covered Wagon District, approximately a five county region in central Nebraska. A total of 34 Scouts participated in the event, with 28 completing the Young Eagles flight.
Prior to participating in the Young Eagles flights, the Scouts first had to complete the following worksheet:
1) Define the word “aircraft” and describe some kinds of aircraft in use today. Explain the operation of pistons, turboprops and jet engines.
2) Point out on a model plane the forces that act on an airplane in flight.
3) Explain how an airfoil generates lift, how the primary control surfaces (ailerons, elevators, and rudder) affect the airplane’s attitude and how a propeller produces thrust. Visit an aircraft maintenance shop. Interview a technician and report on his/her ideas about aircraft maintenance.
4) Demonstrate how the control surfaces of an airplane are used for takeoff, straight climb, level turn, climbing turn, descending turn, straight descent, and landing.
5) Explain the recreational pilot and the private pilot certificates and the instrument rating.
6) Find out what job opportunities there are in aviation. Describe the qualifications and working conditions for one job in which you are interested. Explain what it offers for reaching your goals in life.
Upon completing these tasks, the Scouts could then participate in the Aviation Merit Badge experience, which included the Young Eagles flight. Activities in the Aviation Merit Badge experience:
1) Take a Young Eagles flight. Record the date, place, type of aircraft, duration of flight, and your impressions of the flight.
2) Visit an airport. After the visit, report on how the facilities are used, how runways are numbered, and how runways are determined to be “active.”
3) Explain the purposes and functions of the various instruments found in a typical single-engine aircraft: attitude indicator, heading indicator, altimeter, airspeed indicator, turn and bank indicator, vertical speed indicator, compass, navigation (GPS and VOR) and communication radios, tachometer, oil pressure gauge, and oil temperature gauge.
4) Visit an aircraft maintenance shop. Interview a technician and report on his/her ideas about aircraft maintenance.
5) Interview a professional or military pilot. Report on what you learn.
6) Interview a Certified Flight Instructor. Report on what you learn.
7) Under supervision, perform a preflight inspection of a light airplane.
Submitted by EAA Chapter 1091
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Boy Scouts of the Covered Wagon District in Nebraska who took part in the Aviation Merit Badge program at Kearney Municipal Airport on June 10, 2006.
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