Two years ago while talking to Jim Krueger on the phone he
mentioned that I should make the trip to Oshkosh and help with Kid
Venture. At the last minute I took him up on the offer and was sure glad I
did. Never making the trip to Oshkosh before I wasn't sure what to expect
as far as the Kid Venture or Air Venture was concerned. The two years I
have gone to volunteer have been experiences that money could not have
bought.
Although kids enjoy the regular air shows and planes on display they
benefit from Kid Venture since they have many items on display that are
interactive and geared toward them. Kids seem to love to climb on and
experience the things around them with a hands on approach when it comes
to learning. There are guest speakers in the museum and under the big tent
by the museum, rocket building classes, model airplane building classes,
R/C simulators and control line airplanes, which is where this group of
volunteers comes in.
The group of volunteers shown below provided 2051 kids with a positive
experience flying a control line airplane. Even an occasional crash was
nothing to worry about. The object is to give them a taste and feel of
what it is like to fly a control line airplane but not to teach them to
fly. Although I personally had a few kids who kept coming back to fly
multiple times who were getting the hang of it pretty quick. You can sort
of tell which ones are going to go home and buy one of these planes and
find a lifelong hobby. Occasionally a parent would come out to the handle
for a flight and inevitably get dizzy while laughing the whole time. Each
year I have had a parent fall over backwards from dizziness.
The
student pilot was allowed to get the feel of the plane in flight and
experienced climbing and diving the airplane after a few laps.
How many
people can we get in a golf cart? This year Jim Krueger secured a golf
cart to transport people to and from their parked cars and run errands.
Sure saved our legs for important things like walking the flight line.
