Take part in National Model Aviation Day from the backyard

An instructor shows how to construct a paper airplane for National Model Aviation Day.

Grab some scissors, paper and a few other household items and you’re ready to celebrate National Model Aviation Day.

The Academy of Model Aeronautics has put together some guides to help you explore the skies for the event, which marked its ninth anniversary on Saturday.

It’s as simple as a trip around your house to find most of the items needed to celebrate National Model Aviation Day this year.

Kyle Jaracz, the education director at the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and his team have put together almost two dozen videos and counting, outlining projects that can be done with household items.

“You can really have a great opportunity to take these things, really cheap, learn how they fly, learn how to make them fly the way that you want them to and then that gives you that foundation to build further knowledge as you move forward,” Jaracz said.

The videos include instructions on how to construct jet cups, gliders, paper airplanes and kites and watch them fly.

They took the projects they usually gear for the classroom and moved them online.

“With COVID happening, all of the sudden we realized that a lot of the curriculum we had was geared toward classrooms and not necessarily living rooms,” Jaracz said.

But they’re not done quite yet. He said to keep checking back for more surprises.

“This is an ever growing, ever expanding opportunity. If you go through and you knock out all 23 of them this week, then check back next because there will probably be more then,” Jaracz said.

Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

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