​Here are a few tickboxes for motivating children in education:

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Credibility

Making something fly is of universal interest and not a little mystery.

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Personal

When we make an artefact we actually form an emotional relationship with it - it is ours and from it we project aspects of our character and capability.  This is called 'buy-in'

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Fail proof / guaranteed degree of success

Unlike many tasks where we seek success the flying of a glider is understood to be risky and likely to fail on the first attempt. For this reason learners are less quickly discourgaged by a poor flight and somehow intrinsically believe that with a few tewals their creartion can fly eventually. So nobody looks stupid in front of others.

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Application of knowledge

Observational skills and interpretation of the glider's behaviour are essential to trimming a glider for flight. The rules are surprisingly easy to learn and they are rigourous  - in a short time a learner can predict how a  glider will fly before the flight and begin to share this knowledge with others. This cements understanding in a practical, demonstrable and non competitive way. Furthermore these concepts can be seen in full size aircraft. In this sense the most basic concepts of flight are demonstrated in the most complex aircraft. This is called purpose and relevance.

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Creativity - divergent thinking

Once the rules have been learned they can be tested or developed quite safely. This further provides a great sense of purpose and challenge to children for whom the static classroom may be intollerably boring. Reasoning through their ideas is essential at this and the highest levels of aircraft design. One of the most rewarding aspects of our glider kits is the degree to which they can be modified beyond recongnition and still fly or perform aerobatics as required.

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Convergent - jumoing through hoops

Creativity in the aero industry is matched and offset by a level of convergence unique to the industry, The rigour of tolerance, procedure and scrutiny is unparallelled and this aspect gives rigour to the more creative aspoects. At higher levels teams of aeroauts need to communicate to judging engineers their ideas to industrial standards. All good experience and skills. This appeals to both mindsets.

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Why does UK need Aeroschool UK?

For the BMFA challenges part of the  problem is that Univeristies tend to use the challenges as a vehicle to get a degree or dissertation - with no imperative to win the challenges. Teams from Asia have arrived ready to thrash UK teams soundly and this is because they regard the challenges as an opportunity to demonstrate national capability. In the absence in 2025 of teams outside of Europe the main wards went to our Aeroschool teams and teams from Germany and Easter Europe. The top UK university came 6th.

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Problem for enginnering

There is evidence that uk graduates have little understanding of aircraft as a holistic product. This is because teams divvy up the part of the plane between them and seemingly noby coordinates the whole thing . . ?

The plane flies on computer but not as a functioning product.  This expains a lot of what we see in industry. Increasingly students are using computers for design of components without them actually being turned into a functionaling assembly of components.  One item often left to the last minute is the undercarriage! This can make or break it for a team and often does. This calls for a training programme for tutors maybe but as importanly it calls for schools and youth to reengage with product design and real things not just simulations. 

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National Wellbeing

But more than the demise of UK industry, the wellbeing of children in education is at an all-time low; prompting record numbers of familys to opt for home education and schools to farm SEND provision to external organisations who often have LESS engineering capability than the school. Thankfully it is this route as AEP (Alternative provision) from which T&S have met our most gifted students.

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SEND

​In our work with both schools and home eduators over 20 years it is clear to us that many of those consigned to 'SEND are blessed with the very skills we need in industry. This is not just for stereotypical reasons such as the ability to work in great detail and scrutiny but for the learning style which is often much more physical, itterative, personal and dynamic.

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The sleeping Giant

Aeromodelling has always been essentially a home-based education. Vastly more children access it in flying clubs than in schools and usually through parents and relatives. 

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Progression

Many schools who use aero products do so on a one-off basis. There is little or no progression into greater things as there is for instance in dance, sports and music. Somewhere in the distance are the BMFA payload challenges - but how to get there? the BMFA can't tell you! How to get started?  How to get the advice that the BMFA stipulate in the challenge rules? Tumbleweed.

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Solutions:

Aeroschool - resources for learning with continuity and progression into engineering or maybbe just into life.

 

And Payload Pal -  ideas tips tricks and resources from past entrants to get you to the BMFA challenges and also to other national challenges held around the Uk.

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How to get started with Aeroschool 

Who will learn what?

1. All children will enjoy a simple but informative activity that is more than throwing a glider - in fact it isnt even a glider to start with but it becomes a glider during the activity.

2. Most children will understand the basic theory and apply principles to life.

3. Some children will want to extend to more of our activities/kits etc

4. A few children will join a club or even an out of school club perhaps an online club. hybrid.

5. A key few will eventually take up a career in a related context. Hopefully UK engineering will still be a thing.

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So how to identify and provide for these chuildren?

If a teacher can deliver a single activity intheir classroom that covers their STEM agenda, they can also identify those who show some key qualities.

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Extension materials can be available to further inspire these.

If yopu can get children to stage 4 there is a progressive scheme of work they can follow using our resources and that require little staff expertise.

They can come to local events from children in the area with similar abilities and interests where Aeroschool can take them on from there.

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STAGE 1 - Aeroquare challenge

We dont call it an aeroplane. We dont want to precondition the learner to think in terms of jet or Spitfire. They will learn the basics of glider flight​

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STAGE 2 - Aerolution

​Explore alternatives for the format of a wing and stabilising surface.

Explore wing shape, aspect ratio

Explore pitch of the wing

Explore optimum wing area

Explore aerobatics

Explore structures

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STAGE 3 - Aeroschool

Explore scaling up ratios/scale

Explore introducing power RTP

Explore structures various techniques and jigs

Explore wing profiles, flift wind tunnel

Explore Radio Control

Explore rationalising for speed/payload

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STAGE 4

We visit you to run more technical acticities

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What is different about kits and programmes?

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1. We don't call it an aeroplane yet

2. We dont start with a recognisable aeroplane

3. We control the launch

4. It's designed to be trimmed and modified

5, We dont use a rubber powered motor - these things completely mask the flight characteristics of the plane and confuse any possible scrutiny of trim

6. We dont use electric motors - again, these mask the need to balance and trim a glider. Both rubber power and electric (capacitor) power  make flying difficult to deliver safelky in a confined space.

7. We dont use use fiddly strips of balsawood and tissuepaper, This takes ages to build and reduces the success rate of the group as a whole. These are skills that we deliver later but we dont want to associate ourselves with the old-school aeromodelling that requires excessive tiome and dexterity that children do not posess.

8. We dont mention the bernoulli pronciple - yet- the concept of lifet that occurs becuase of differential air speeds over a curved flat bottomes wing. This is the most common failing of aeromodellers. It is particularly misleading because whilst it offerer s adegree opf mystery by which the 'expert' can play 'wizard for a day' it is actually NOT the fundamnetal reason for flight. Much better to use Newton's IIIrd law of motion. The pitch angle of the wing.  For a start any observant child with critical thinking skills will question:

why a glider with a flat wing can fly; or why an aerobatic plane with fully eliptical wings can fly or why the P51 mustang with its' laminar flow' wing is a better plane than a Spitfire with its flat bottomed wing.

9. We use non toxic recyclable materials

10. We proivide the CAD files for you to make our gliders if you have the technology

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Mission

Aeroschool is focussed primarily in learning and developing of personal learning skills.  Whilst we love aircraft we love learning more and we constantly scurtiniuse our schemes of work to ensure that they are effective. 

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Our goals are

1. To engage young minds within a practical and dynamic context

2. To facilitate independent exploration of concepts

3. To engender critical thinking, observationals skills, diagnostic skills confidence, learning skills, courage and a sense of purpose that can be applied into later life.

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USP

Aeroschool is for educators /learners who want more than simplistic foamy gliders on the one hand and more accessible low investment products on the other.

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Our products deliver a concept in a way that can be tested, scrutinised and extrapolated.

 

Aeroschool is a carefully crafted journey in logical stages so as to build understanding in a progressive way and in this respect it hangs together in a truly educational strategy:

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Educational strategy

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1. Engender a need/purpose/engagement  in the mind of the learner

2. Deliver  apporpiate concepts that can be explored and assessed by the learner with as little coinfusion or time wasting. Maximise on the testimg and develipment rather than on the initial construction

3. Revision of previously taught theory as new concepts are inrtroduced

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Communiuty

Whether you klearn at home or at school Aeroschool seeks to engender a community approach. This is another failimg of school system - the endless comoetition for standards.

We focus oin sharing our ideas and advice - its actually the best way of learning.

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You can enter comoetitions better informed to take on the opposeition and to repair your aircraft when it lands a biut too heavily.

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You can collaborate with others in real time design sessions and we provide meetups for small groups of Aeronauts.

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Eventually tou can take on teams from across the works in our international events held at Uk centres of excellence.

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Accredititaion

Aeroschool has a range of CREST awards you can achieve as poert of your journey but we dont tend to offer quals - mainly because of their distorted value. We know that upon application to a college or univeristy your abiloity to communicate your dreams and ideas, achievements and inbtersts is of great value. If you like GCSEs then shcool is a great place but if you like to spend your life learning  outside of the box then aeroschool has much to offer.  You will remember what you learn when you do something much beteer than when you mug up for an exam. 

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By far the best approach is to know that Aeroschool covers the D&T curriculum and more. Our designs concentrate on the design process that we have taught in scholols for 20 years and the making will be way in excess of what you would be expercted to produce for GCSE wich much kore trialling and testing and critical use of materials an dprocesses control and programming.

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• Briefs and Specifications

• Design Process

• Research and Development strategies

• Testing and Evaluating

• Structures

• Control systems

• Sub-systems

• Avionics

• Aerodynamics

• Making Techniques

• Data gathering

• Critical Thinking

• History

• Materials and properties

• Ethics

• Teamwork

• Communications skills

• Aesthetics, Ergonomics

• Safety

• and er . . . 

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We do this in our weekly group sessions, visits to venues, summer camps and our mobile technical vehicle.

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Building resilience  - Learning from mistakes

Our students develop their understanding accumulatively so that failure in something is followed by something more successful next time around. This is a vital concept unavailable to most university students who rarely test their aircraft prior to competitive flight.​

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How can I access Aeroschool? - see our Solutions page

You can access Aeroschool in a number of ways.

1. You can come to us in Northamptonshire for our weekly group sessions for school children (Alternative Education Provision) and other groups for Home Educators.

2. Buy our educational kits and schemes of work online for group work and access tutorials by Zoom etc.

3. Book us to visit you or your group with our mobile workshop!

4. Come to one of our Aerocamps at venues like Shuttleworth,  BMFA Buckminster or at home in Irthlingnorough.

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Products - see our solutions page

• Cardboard kits and schemes of work

• Gravity launcher

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Achievement Schemes you can do

• BMFA Flying achievement schemes

• Bronze CREST awards for testing aero principles

• Silver and Gold CREST awards for entering the BMFA Payload Challenges.

• Scouts badges etc

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Hybrid Delivery and Resourcing

We run online learning and group video sessions and can provide you with all software and video resources you need to run your own club.

We can even laser cut your designs in cardboard and post them back to you!

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Training and Consultancy

Mark is available to train you to deliver our unique resources and or train your staff to deliver Aeroschool UK curriculum.

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Distance Learning

You can even purchase our unique educational kits and projects for your child, HE group, youth club, air cadets or scout group by joining our e-aer0school. 

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So please read on and get excited about what you, your child/children could achieve through our unique independent learning resource.

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Legal

Where you use and publish your use of our resources in activity images Please credit Aeroschool UK' - as we duly credit our own external sources.

 

• We reserve all rights on our products and projects and the right to modify them without notice.

• Any CAD files you are sent for educational purposes are for your own educational use only.

 

• Larger orgs may wish to manufacture our kits on licence for multiple groups (if you think you can make them cheaper!!). The licence is based on the number produced rather than being open ended. Crediting Aeroschool UK for their use is required.

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• All concerns, complaints, requests for customisation and development enquires must be made to Aeroschool UK in the first instance.

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