Model assembly, flight provides Mich. cadets with aeronautics lesson

 

 

(1)
Cadet Tech. Sgt. Abby Smith tests the stability of her Sig Cub model’s tail section.

(2)
Cloudbusters Model Airplane Club members instruct the Maj. Joe Koch Memorial Cadet Squadron on building Sig Cub model planes.

Photos by Maj. Mike Ruhl, Michigan Wing


Maj. Mike Ruhl
Aerospace Education Officer
Maj. Joe Koch Memorial Cadet Squadron
Michigan Wing

MICHIGAN – Rubber bands, not aviation fuel, provided the power when 25 members of the Maj. Joe Koch Memorial Cadet Squadron gathered to see aeronautical principles in action, thanks to the Detroit-based Cloudbusters Model Airplane Club.

Seven of the club’s members instructed the squadron in building Sig Cub aircraft kits made of balsa wood and tissue and powered by rubber bands. With proper turning, the models, with a 12 ½-inch wingspan, can remain aloft for minutes.

The presentation featured a primer on modeling safety, an introduction to paper models, and a discussion of principles of flight, including wing dihedrals and weight and balance.

The squadron members capped off the event by launching their models in a nearby gymnasium, highlighted by contests in such categories as time aloft, distance flown and altitude achieved.

Capt. Larry Parks, the squadron’s commander, pronounced the event “a huge success.”