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Youth Development Programme
Visit to Polokwane December 2003
by Craig Goodrum
It was the 7th December, Civil Aviation Day, and the Department of Transport had put together a display at Gateway International Airport in Polokwane.
Unfortunately the airport was active on the day and it was not possible for the planned flying displays to take place. This did not however subdue the enthusiasm of the 500 plus students that made their way to the event. Despite the lack of full scale flying displays, the students were still extremely excited showing that this was a rare opportunity for them. Various sectors of the aviation fraternity
(the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), SAA (South African Airways), Department of Transport and ATNS (Air Traffic and Navigation Services)) had manned stands with volunteers to provided the students with invaluable information on the various careers available in civil aviation.
At the request of the Department of Transport the Aeroclub came to the party with some fun. The South African Model Aircraft Association (SAMAA) has been working for some time now on an aviation development program which encompasses the provision of accessibility to flight using the relatively inexpensive tool of model gliders and its infrastructure of model flying clubs around the country.
The Pietersburg Model Aircraft Club and the Model Gliding Association (MGA) put together a static display of various models from scale power models to high tech composite gliders flown at the World Championships, the fun was however elsewhere!
There is a special feeling that a person experiences when they watch a person experience magic for the first time. For me the 7th of December was all about that special feeling. We got to the airport at 8am and unpacked the models, sourced some tables for the magic makers, assembled and tested said magic makers and waited for the students to finish with the ceremonies. As the students streamed into the hangar they became the first to experience the magic which we hope will become a regular at future events.
The students were given our first demonstration using computerized model aircraft simulators, these are now part of our standard aviation development program. The way it works is that a radio control box is plugged into the computer on which a program (FMS) is run. The end result is that the pilot gets to fly a cyber-model. The pilot can choose from many alternate models that have been created and are available off the WWW with realistic performance. The benefits are exactly the same as that of full sized aircraft simulators, when you crash it doesn’t hurt (especially the pocket) and for this reason these simulators have become indispensable training tools. The success of our first exhibition was self evident with the students hanging around the stand for long after they had collected their information packs from the other exhibitors.
Once the tables with the simulators become fully surrounded the word soon spreads that the task at hand is not that easy and that it could be beneficial to seek instruction before trying ones hand at steering the flying machines in their three dimensions.
This is where Michelle, the worlds only female pilot at the multitask radio controlled gliding World Championships, came in. We only had three computers in working order at the demonstration and Michelle took the opportunity to give an introductory lecture to the students who were awaiting their turn to fly.
The lecture took the form of a physical explanation session during which she demonstrated the way in which a movement of the control corresponds with a movement of one of the control surfaces on the model and then the effect that the control surface movement has on the flight path. The interest was intense.
Eventually it was time for the busses to leave, taking the students away. We packed up and started our journey home. The drive home was full of excitement about how great the day had been and stories of the talent that so many of the students had. Before we knew it we were back home and it was time for the festive season to start, or had it already started when we unpacked the magic machines at Gateway International?
With so much interest from these young people, I can only conclude that if the powers that be get together with a well organized effort then the future of aviation in South Africa is indeed bright.
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