Youth serious about flight

Lauren Vane

One look at the trail of children running around the playground

playing “Altitude Tag” and it was easy to see that these future

astronauts were mad about flying and all things space.

Lucky for them, they landed in just the right spot -- the Mad

Science X-treme Rockets and Flying Machines day camp held during the

summer at the Murdy Community Center in Huntington Beach.

This pack of children spent a week with instructors, learning

about rockets and planes and what makes them fly.

And, said one instructor, these children are serious about flight.

“They ask some really good questions,” instructor Lisa Taylor

said. “They’re not just here to make a rocket and go home.”

Ryan Cain, 7, of Huntington Beach certainly wasn’t.

“It’s fun because we get to build a lot of cool things,” the

enthusiastic camper said.

After a quick brush up on the four forces of flight, children left

their indoor classroom for a real adventure in space: launching

planes and rockets from a grassy hilltop.

As if they were experienced pilots, the children began with an

important exercise -- testing the wind direction. Using a trick

taught to them by their camp instructors, the children picked up

handfuls of grass and threw the blades up into air, watching to see

which direction the wind carried them.

“They definitely have a love for it,” Taylor said. “They stump me

sometimes with their questions.”

The children shrieked when the instructors charged up the planes

and let them fly. Some flew high and landed in trees; others took an

immediate nose dive into the ground.

When some of the planes didn’t take off successfully, the

instructors turned a disappointing experience into a scientific

lesson.

“What did we learn about science?” Taylor asked the campers. “Do

we give up the first time?”

Determined to test out their hypotheses, the children answered a

resounding, “No!” and brainstormed together what adjustments could be

made to help the planes fly.

After the last plane had been tested, it was time for the class

favorite: the rocket launch. With help from the instructors the

students witnessed air-pumped rockets fly to epic heights -- high

above the community center basketball courts.

During one of the launches, the children saw first-hand another

example of why it’s important to try more than once when conducting a

scientific experiment. After pumping the rocket full of air, the

children counted down but the rocket refused to budge.

“I want a refund!” came a scream from the crowd of antsy campers.

Lucky for the instructors, no refunds were necessary. The rocket

launched on a second try and the children were treated with the show

they’d been waiting for.