Organizers of a one-of-a-kind aerospace summer camp for youth are opening registrations for this July and space is limited.
Texada Island artist and former aircraft technician Doby Dobrostanski is organizing the camp again this summer from July 18 to 20. He and co-instructors Dale Rinehart and Peter Teuner hosted the first camp in 2009 to great success.
“We decided to put something together to allow kids to learn more about aviation and aerospace,” said Dobrostanski. “It’s a subject that few people can teach because you need to be hands on.”
Dobrostanski said he does not know of any other community offering a camp like this one and his routinely attracts children from all parts of the province. This will be the third time the camp has run.
Camp participants will experiment with a wind tunnel Dobrostanski built for his first camp. They will learn about how wings work and the role drag, lift and thrust play in flight.
“It’s to expose kids to aerospace, both the technical part and the history of it,” he added. “Everything from aviation to rocketry.”
He built Air Buzz, a 14-foot classroom aircraft model, to help teach the basic functions of aircraft flight and show how the ailerons, rudders and elevators work to help the pilot control planes. It has a small electric motor to turn its single propeller and has mock-ups of actual airplane instruments.
“Kids can sit in it and work the controls,” he said, “and take it apart and put it back together again to see what all the parts are.”
They will even learn about how aluminum is riveted together when building the outer skins of aircraft. The camp will also include presentations about the Canadian Space Agency, NASA and touch on astronomy and use of telescopes.
Dobrostanski has been fascinated with flight since he was a child watching news footage of the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik in 1957. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets as a child and later joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as an aircraft technician.
He hopes the camp will inspire more students to look to Canada’s aerospace industry for future careers. “It’s a quick exposure,” he said of the three days, “to get kids to do something hands on and practical.”
The camp is for youth 10 to 18 years old and there is enough space for 25 participants. It runs from 9:30 am to 2 pm each day and lunch, snacks and ferry fares are included in the registration fee. It will be held at the Texada Arts, Culture and Tourism Society Centre in Van Anda. For more information about the camp and how to register readers can contact Dobrostanski at 604.486.0334.
