Over
the past five years the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum (GMAM) has
been coordinating a highly successful Flight Education (Flt Ed) Program,
specifically for Grade 6 students, in cooperation with the classroom
teachers of four Annapolis Valley Schools.
The
Program evolved out of the interest and initiative of a few teachers at
the Pine Ridge Middle School (PRMS) in Kingston, accepting an offer by
the Museum to get their students up close and personal with the aviation
equipment, artefacts, and history.
The Flt Ed Program that evolved utilizes the Museum resources to
reinforce their classroom subject “Flight”, a unit taught as part of
the Grade 6 curriculum across Nova Scotia.
Mrs.
Connie Weinberg, from the PRMS, was instrumental in helping critique the
initial program with her students in January 2003.
Four years later she summarizes the program as “a wonderful
student resource, and we are privileged to participate with so many
enthusiastic Museum volunteers in this program over the years”.
The
Flt Ed program is structured to complement the school syllabus set out
by the Nova Scotia Dept. of Education for the grade 6 Flight unit.
The course is generally run once per week, on a Wednesday, from
0930 until noon, with Thursday as a weather backup day.
Fifty to sixty students and escorts, divided into six groups,
arrive by bus at 0920 and rotate through six main areas of the Museum at
twenty-minute intervals until noon.
Click
on the thumbnails below to see larger pictures.
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Area 1
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1 - Computer Flight Simulation is a power point/movie
presentation encompassing various aspects of aircraft design and
instrumentation, with a simulated local flight to show the features of a
military Tutor aircraft. |
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Area 2
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2 - The 60-year History of CFB Greenwood is briefed,
encompassing World War II, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan,
current flying squadrons and some personal stories of Air Force heroes. |
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Area 3
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3 - Helicopters, Parachutes and Search and Rescue
are featured, with the basics of how a helicopter flies and how
parachutes work. Various
aspects of squadron, crew and Search And Rescue Technicians’
responsibilities are discussed. |
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Area 4
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4 - Engines/Propellers/Jets show how radial and in-line
piston aircraft engines and propellers function compared to jet engines. |
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Area 5
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5 - Argus
Aircraft Tactical Crew Procedures Trainer (TCPT)
introduces the Cold War era, including the role the Argus aircraft
played, how this simulator worked and the various duties of the
large Argus crew. |
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Area 6
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Area
6 - Spitfire, T-33 Ejection Seat, and Torpedo provide a
demonstration of aircraft flight controls and various aircraft
equipment, how an ejection seat permits a jet pilot to safely leave a
crippled aircraft in flight, and how a torpedo works.
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Generally,
two volunteers are responsible for each area.
All volunteers are military aircrew, either retired or currently
serving members of the Base. This mix covers a broad spectrum of
expertise that not only benefits the students but also has a positive
effect on the team concept of instruction.
In
2006, the Museum Flt Ed Program expanded to accommodate requests from
five elementary schools: Pine
Ridge Middle School, Kingston; École Rose-des-Vents, Greenwood;
Annapolis East Elementary School, Middleton; Berwick
School, Berwick; and Evangeline Middle School, New Minas.
One course was a combined class of children taking French and
French Immersion. Although
exposed to a wide variety of technological and historical aspects in a
very short period of time, the students seem genuinely eager to
participate. Feedback from
the teachers and students has been very positive.
In the past four years, 1,249
students/escorts have participated in the Museum’s Flt Ed Program,
and the 2007 Program has begun and will run weekly from mid-January to
April. This program has
become a truly community team activity that would not be possible
without the cooperation and interest of the school staff and the
enthusiastic support of so many volunteers.
Hopefully, the program will continue indefinitely.
Connie
Weinberg gets the final word: “We have a wonderful resource in this
area in the Museum and the volunteers. Nothing teaches like experience.
The expertise and experience shared by the volunteers involved with the
Flt Ed program is second to none. Grade
6 students and staff of Pine Ridge Middle School would like to thank
this great team of volunteers and the Museum staff for allowing us to be
a part of this program and for the tremendous amount of expertise and
energy you bring to the Flt Ed Program.”
Lloyd
E. Graham
Flt
Ed Coordinator
Additional
Pictures
Related
Page: Flight
Education Article in the Halifax Chronicle Herald, January 30, 2007.
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