Original Story found in: The Daily Gazette
Written by: By Bethany Bump
This year’s annual Twin Rivers Council fall Boy Scout camporee at Fulton County Airport in Johnstown titled “The Sky Is The Limit,” was aviation-themed.
A big part of the annual camporee is getting the kids interested in things they wouldn’t normally have a chance to experience. In aviation, that interest is usually sparked by the world of model airplanes, said Eric Williams, District II Vice President of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
The image that most people have of model airplanes did not line up with the objects he pulled out of the back of a truck Saturday. These were actual planes, but about 40 percent smaller than a light aircraft.
“The only difference between our planes and those big ones is the size and there’s not a human being inside them when they fly,” said Williams. “We fly them via remote control, otherwise, they do the same things that those planes do.”
As a man behind him started putting the wings onto a bright yellow model airplane, boys began to hover nearby to watch. While many dub model aviation a hobby, Williams said it’s a great educational tool for youth to begin learning the career path of a pilot.
“This is the only hobby that can teach math, science, physics, engineering, history,” he said. “We have aircraft that look like World War II aircraft or World War I. Kids can learn about the history of aviation, what it meant to the World Wars and conflicts. They learn about why airplanes fly, about the mathematics of laying out an airplane, all kinds of stuff like that. It’s really the seed ground of America’s military, civilian and commercial aviators.”
Full article: https://www.dailygazette.com/news/2013/oct/05/1006_camp/