Drones Camp : Iredell-Statesville Schools
The future looks bright for the 40 Iredell-Statesville School students who participated in the Drones camp this summer. Four days full of learning, experimenting and fun. Make An Impact Foundation’s Drones2Jets program was able to partner with the school system to provide a weeklong camp complete with brand new drones, one for each student. The students learned how to build and operate the drones. They were introduced to multiple careers that use drones to successfully complete their jobs. The week wasn’t completely full of technology, the students were tasked with building airplanes from a kit of wood, paper, propellers and rubber bands. Once built, they experimented with the planes to see how far and high they could fly. By winding the rubber band different times or adjusting the placement of the wings, they were able to change the direction, length and height of their flight. One of the highlights of the camp was when the students were paired up and sent to the basement of the school for a search and rescue mission, using only the drones to find the lost classmates… New aged version of hide and seek.
Sky’s the Limit and Flight Plan – Cool Kids Clubhouse
The Sky’s the Limit event, born out of a collaboration with the Cool Kids Clubhouse and EAA Chapter 309 allowed the coolest kids fighting cancer and their families to fly in ways they never thought possible. On June 11, families from the Cool Kids Clubhouse experienced an exclusive private event, where they flew in real airplanes and helicopters, thanks to the pilots of the EAA Chapter 309. They got to visit the Gastonia, NC airport (KAKH) as well as play games, make crafts, share snacks and just spend one morning not thinking about their cancer diagnosis. The vision of Drones2Jets, a Make an Impact Foundation project, is to provide pathways to fuel the next generation of children in aviation. What better way to implement that vision, than supporting organizations introducing children to airplanes and sharing the Sky’s the Limit for your dreams. To kick off the exposure to aviation, members of the Drones2Jets team met some cool kids and families fighting cancer in May during the Flight Plan event at the Huntersville Clubhouse. The kids learned the basics about flying, listened to live Air Traffic Control for Charlotte, NC (KCLT), built their own plastic glider and saw the flight patterns or as they referred to them the “highway in the sky” directly overhead. Together, these organizations are providing once in a lifetime opportunity for kids in our community.
Aviation Event at Kooks Custom Headers
What happens when you take Engineers and pair them with kids excited about aviation with a goal to build and fly gliders? You end up with some very competitive teams, inspired children and some amazing stories to tell. In August, Drones2Jets visited our partner, Kooks Custom Headers for a morning full of aviation fun. We paired Kooks employees with children from Caterpillar Ministries. They were given supplies to build a balsam wood glider, complete with propellers connected to rubber bands. Each team built the glider and then we tested the gliders to see which one flew the furthest. Much to our surprise during the build event, the Goodyear Blimp glided over as it was doing some test flights. Each child attending the aviation event received a Drones2Jets flight bag full of items they can use not only to remember the aviation event but utilize in real life. The flight bags are full of items like an airplane shaped pencil, notebook full of grid paper, plastic gliders, sectional chart and blue light glasses.