– A chance to make a real difference to the lives of disabled and disadvantaged young people
The programme was launched on World Disability Day, 3 December 2021. It aims to provide an opportunity for young people, and especially disadvantaged young people (primarily Special Educational Needs and Disabled (SEND)), to enjoy the stimulation of a creative endeavour outside their day-to-day experience, namely, flight simulation.
Everyone from 6 to 19 years of age can take part in poster competitions and 11-19-year-olds can then develop STEM skills in designing and building parts (or all!) of a moving flight simulator, accessible by young people with special needs and disabilities (the Big Build).
Finally, everyone taking part can have the opportunity to experience the enjoyment of flying in the motion flight simulator.
The completed flight simulator, based at Aeromobility in Blackbushe Airport, will be mobile to take around to some of the schools, to the regions where competitors are based and to various airfields and other events to promote disability awareness.
The Moving Platform for the flight simulator has already been developed by Middlesex University.
For 11-19-year-olds, the Design Brainstorm Challenge competitions are:
- a poster showing how they would go about designing and building all or part of a flight simulator accessible to all. There will be prizes for winners’ schools, colleges or youth groups.
- a detailed design and build proposal by a school, college, or youth group team, for part(s) of a working and accessible flight simulator which will enable able-bodied and disabled young people to experience the thrill of flying. The work package concept means that teams can select the accessible features that they are especially interested in. There will be prizes for winning teams’ organisations and funding for the winning work packages, and the final assembly ‘simulator build camp’.
While the focus is on making a simulator accessible to as many as possible, including SEND young people, the competition aims to include all schools, colleges, and youth groups (eg Air Training Corps, Air Scouts etc) and Royal Aeronautical Society Corporate Partner apprentices, working ideally in conjunction with local SEND schools.
These partnerships should bring benefits to all parties involved and help raise awareness of the challenges young disabled people face.
The poster competitions will take place over three months and the Big Build competitions over a further nine months. Our Society members can become involved in several ways:
- Working through our Branch Network, providing advice to the schools, colleges, air cadets and apprentices on how aircraft fly, how flight simulators work, or technical advice as they design and build modules for the flight simulator.
- Working with local Special Needs Schools to help understand how some of their needs might be met.
It is anticipated that RAeS Corporate Partners will want to be involved, directly through their apprentices taking part, or by sponsorship.
For further information contact: Rishi Radia (rishi.radia@aerosociety.com).
Lee Balthazor
FRAeS Chair, Falcon 2 Advisory Group
