Evening star., 1937-03-28
Aviation Training in
Public Schools.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

that young pupil can be taught bv
force, by use Of the ruler the dunce can
and allied punishrents is largely OUT
moded Many persons who were classl-
fed as dull pupils realize in retrospect
that their difficulty arose from failure
of teachers to arouse interest. Not a
few who failed miserably in school be-
came great successes afterwards.
Realization of this central fact slowly
is changing teaching methods. How
ever, especially in the great cities, it is
dlthcult, there being so many thousands
OF pupils, and so many teachers whose
interests lie not so much in lmpartlng
knowledge as in holding JOBS. Where
large populations are concerned, teach
Ing in public schools is not so much Of
calling as means of drawing a pay
check.
Where an effort is made at selection,
the system of asking young pupils in
advance what their interests are, what
they want to study is used. According
to information obtained by the Federal
Once OF Education a surprising number
of pupils have answered: Aviation"
But short time ago. expression OF
any such desire would have been met
with supercilious smile and, possibly,
a rebuke, and education would, as usual,
have been concentrated on the three
RS. The incident would have been
claSSed as somewhat infantile. just as
would an expression that a lad wanted
to be fireman, a policeman or loco
motive engineer. Today, in few places
at least, the preference has been taken
seriously and aviation now is taught in
public schools, although usually not
until at least junior high school stage
is reached
The three Rs are not neglected. In
deed one of them, 'rithmetic, is given
special stress because aviation requires
substantial amount of engineering
knowledge 1t is found incidentally,
that the boy or girl who, in ordinary
course, would have found arithmetic
dull and uninteresting study, strives
to master its intricacies when it is
coupled with a study of the science of
aviation.
Some years ago the interest of youth
in aviation was expressed through the
making OF airplane models. This was
regarded by school authorities, so far as
they showed interest at all as a harm
less hobby-that is harmless so long as
it did not usurp time that should be
given to more classical studies 1t was
looked upon as sort of playing with
toys. There are indications of changed
pedagogical attitude. Perhaps one ele-
ment which prompted the change Of
view was the fact that a national air
plane model contest showed entrants
ranging in years from II to 43. 1t ap-
peared there was something at least
seml-serlous about the hobby,
Tiny match-stem models, propelled by
rubber bands, have flown for nearly
half an hour. and larger type carry
ing miniature engine and little phial
OF fuel, has made a record of 2 hours
35 minutes in the air and covered a
distance of 54 miles Toys perhaps, but
highly interesting toys! Including the
fuel, this model weighed but pounds.
The fact that model aircraft clubs,
scattered all over the country, bad
membership of half million boys was
something Of revelation to public school
authorities.
The Duke of Wellington remarked
that the Battle of Waterloo and other
famous British victories were won on
the playing fields Of Eton. It is be-
lieved by large numbers of men that
the wars Of the future will be fought in
the air. II this is true there seems to be
sound reason for making aviation a
part of public school study. Already
the idea has been recognized to the
extent that school pupils by the thou
sands belong to aircraft model clubs.
The step from that development to in
clusion OF aviation in the school cur
riculum was a short one.
There are various types of school
courses in aviation. The simplest one
merely deals with the various branches
of aviation, commercial, military and SO
on, with their relation to each other.
Aviation history. types of employment
offered and little about types of ships
are included, but there is little Of a
technical nature.
Where a student wishes to go more
deeply into the question, some schools
have provided scientific courses. A
California public school, for example.
deals with the following matters: Flat
and curved surfaces in air streams.
derivation of streamlining, forces pro-
ducing lift, wing lift and drag; center
of gravity of aircraft longitudinal, lati-
tudinal and directional stability, low
and high aspect ratio, gliding, elastic
and ultimate strength Of certain air.
craft metals, fuSelage and wing construc-
ton Of different types of planes, shapes
of propellers and forces exerted upon
them and principles of instruments.
Such studies have been made branch
of regular science course.
X X
Wind tunnels have been built to dem.
onstrate the effect of various speeds,
and few schools have gone even
further and have provided real training
planes. Actual flight training is op-
tional with the student. Not only that,
but each flying student must have the
specific permission of his parents. Each
student must pay the cost of gas and
oil he consumes. Such course, If
mastered. can lead to procurement of a
private pilots license
There are courses in meteorology
which has become a recognized branch
of aviation. There is given thorough
grounding in the constitution Of the
atmosphere with a study Of winds at
different levels and ceiling. The theory
of weather forecasting is taught and
much about visibility, fog and various
kinds Of storms.
Courses in air navigation include such
subjects as instruments. maps and
charts, wind draft, pilotage, dead reckon
ing, with much else of highly technical
nature.