Aircraft Down Lessons

[Preston Ward]

Due to bad weather, it is occurring to me that we'll need to include plenty of 'classroom' components to each lesson. Then if weather or aircraft problems do not allow for flying, educators still have a pocket full of 'bird-down' lessons to choose from. Below are a few ideas, many from Marisa Vickery and Greg Milunich:

1. Hardware definitions
2. Discuss local / regional / federal rules
3. Make a wind-sock
4. Flight planning using aerial maps
5. Get a local photographer to guest speak about photography basics
6. Photo / Video editing lessons
7. Create multi-colored 2ft x 2ft cardboard paper squares to be laid out in field for a large logo/icon/mascot

Just scratching the surface here -- if you have ideas, please post below!

[gpmphotography]

I would recommend giving a lesson on what makes a good photograph/ video. This would help them design missions if the goal is aerial photography and  cinema. There are many editors out there with Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro being industry standard. One lesson I plan on trying is creating an animated title  or ending using After Effects.

[gpmphotography]

I attached a logo I made using after effects as an example