Gifted Resource Council

Flying adventure a little close for comfort

Damonte Johnson

Thirteen-year-old Damonte Johnson had an unexpected summer camp adventure last month. That's what can happen when you're at the controls of a plane near the Gateway Arch.

The 8th grader from Crestview Middle School was on a field trip associated with the Gifted Resource Council's summer Advanced Space Academy. The campers were getting flights from St. Louis' Downtown Airport in Cahokia, Ill.

Some kids got a chance to ride in the co-pilot's seat of the single-engine plane. They actually got to take control of the plane once in awhile. Of course, the adult pilot was in the next seat ready to take over if necessary.

Damonte said, "I was at the controls of the plane flying over downtown St. Louis. Then the pilot said, 'Oops, we're too close to the Arch.' He then took back the controls.

"When we got on the ground, I told my mother about it. She said, 'You did what?'"

Most of the time during the two-week summer camp, the kids had their feet on the ground while studying flight and outer space. And their flight projects involved paper hot-air balloons, balsawood model airplanes and small rockets.

The camp ended with kids competing to see if they could launch a rocket and bring a raw-egg payload back to earth without breaking it.

Adam Pfaff

Thirteen-year-old Adam Pfaff said this was his fifth GRC summer camp and all of them have been focused on flight and space. He said the content of the camps has been varied enough to keep his interest each year.

Adam will be a 9th grader at Lutheran South High School, although he lives in the City of St. Louis. Damonte is another city resident that goes to a suburban school, Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood District.

The GRC held three 2-week summer camp sessions for kids ranging in age from kindergarteners through 8th grade. Subjects ranged from math, science, business and ancient history.

(GRC runs summer camps and also has workshops during the school year. If you'd like to find out what's coming up, visit www.giftedresourcecouncil.org.)

Ian Harding

Twelve-year-old Ian Harding is from Arnold, Mo. He will be an 8th grader who is being home-schooled. He said the various experiments and activities at the camp will be helpful during the school year.

He said, "There are a number things I can use for extra-curricular activities in the future."

Ian said he's looking forward to building hot-air balloons that will used "jellied fuel" to keep the balloons inflated longer during flight. Asked about where to get the fuel, he said, "You can buy it off the Internet but it will be expensive."

He said his hot-air balloon built at the summer camp did get about 20 feet off the ground. "But, then the air cooled, the balloon flipped over and fell to the ground," he said.

John Ray Holiday

Thirteen-year-old John Ray Holiday of Hazelwood said the hot air balloon building was his favorite activity at the space camp.

"All the balloons looked alike when they were built. But, the test results were so much different. Some of them got only a few feet off the ground but others got way above the tree line," John Ray said.

Asked why he thought the flights varied so much, he said, "I think the thin paper of some balloons got little holes while being built. That meant the hot air leaked out quickly. But, others had no holes and held the air longer."

During the final days of the camp, the kids built two types of rockets. One was powered by a "rocket motor" that looked a lot like a July 4 firecracker. The other type of rocket was powered by water and compressed air.

Both carried a raw egg in the nosecone. The "eggs-prize" winners were kids whose rockets went up and the egg floated down by parachute and landed without breaking.

Lynden Peoples

Thirteen-year-old Lynden Peoples will be an 8th grader at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City. He said making model planes was the activity he liked best at camp.

He said, "My plane flew part of the time and crashed part of the time."

But, he said his favorite space subject in "planets and the stars." He said his favorite planet is Jupiter, with its many moons that circle the planet.

Several of the kids like the idea that there were still plenty of things to learn about outer space. For the young kids, they thought outer space was still an "frontier" with a lot more room for learning new things.

Adam Pfaff said, "I'm looking forward to learning what's going to happen next in space."