Warbird Information Exchange

Outstanding reply's from all of you. Much thx. I knew I would receive some very logical and responsible posts. As I have no kids Myself I find it assuring that those of you who do seem to have a good approach to warbirds with yours. Wonderful photos of some great looking young ones

Mark

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Impeach, Remove, Convict, Imprison!!...

I pulled my then seven-year-old daughter out of school to come with us to the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. She met some of the real pilots who flew the airplane that 'ours' was painted to represent. She helped wipe the plane down, watched how people interacted, heard their stories of combat and missions first hand. And she listened, too, even though she was young. She's grown up around warbirds. Last year she watched "Redtails" at the Ford Theater and "Tora Tora Tora" at Oshkosh, asked a lot of clarification questions as it went on, which I answered honestly and simply, and doesn't seem to have any trouble or bother with the concept or history of warbirds...

That's just absolute BS the media likes to scare people into believing. In fact studies have shown video games (in healthy doses) help improve multitasking abilities, even slight improvements in visual acuity and problem solving skills.

I'm a middle school special education teacher 6-8 grade, all subjects) and I share information about warbirds with my students all the time. I have a few of my own photographs behind my desk that I rotate through for variety. Most of my kids could identify Mustangs, Spitfires, 109's etc. For my math kids I even bring in some real German currency spanning 1923-1945 to talk about inflation. I don't go into the gory details, but I do share some pilot stories with them. When I bring it up in the beginning of the year most have no idea there even was a WWII. Few are surprisingly aware of it. Oh yes, and I have some 1:18 warbirds suspended from the ceiling as well.

With my younger students I try to explain how it affected life at home. And specifically how the efforts helped improve life as they know it today. My students surprise me every day with how well they understand what's going on around them. They're a lot smarter than most adults give them credit for.

I have nephews and a neice 4-9 that I talk to about warbirds daily. They are very fascinated by the subject and love talking about history with me. And we get into some pretty deep conversations. They seem to handle it without any problems.

WTG on giving her a chance to experience and learn about it at an early age. Not all kids can understand it early on, but I feel it's important (with any subject) to give them a chance to make the decision the,selves.

Having grown up during WWII, (I was 6 when Pearl Harbor got hit.) warbirds have been in my blood for over 70 years. Too bad the DNA didn't get passed on to my daughters. It did, however, get passed on to Mrs. Mudge.

Mudge the carrier

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Land of the free because of the brave

i have 2 boys, 5 and 8, both are "into" warbirds, play at the hangar any chance they get and avidly read war stories. I try to teach them history as it happened and how different the world is now. They both build plastic models, it helped that i kept some of those i made when i was their age. They have daily "missions" through the house and watch documentaries on the computer, they can identify most allied and axis WWII aircraft and know basic characteristics of each. I have not specifically pushed them in this direction, yes i like building kits with them and take them to museums when we can, but they also both want to be firefighters and rescue helicopter pilots etc so who knows what their path with be.... it has been interesting to note that none of them have any interest in the supernatural, alien, super hero, Disney type of idol or role playing. They do not like to watch any batman or spiderman, and their play time is filled with being an "actual person" performing an actual role. We both like this better for what we feel is more reality, but they can still imagine some fantastic missions and savings of humanity without needing to cling to the side of a building and swing down a rope along a mile of street while zapping the bad guys.
2 years ago we took them both to Oshkosh and hope to get them to Legends in the future. Being English, i want them to understand some of my family history and learn some other aspect of specifically WWI and WWII. The good news is the Spitfire is their favorite plane

Simon

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"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"

Perhaps that's true, but it wasn't the point I was making nor the direction I was going. My statement could have been re-phrased to read differently I'll admit. No matter as it's a moot point now, but it sounds great the approach your taking with your students. Great work.

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Impeach, Remove, Convict, Imprison!!...

THIS IS EXACTLY IT!!!!! My father would take us to museums. Read my 3rd great grandfathers memiors while on the battlefields of where he fought. I would also attend a 457th BG reunion at the age of 10 and be welcome by everyone because of my interest in their history. FORGET letting it be just about airplanes. If you teach them about history and those who were involved, they will also learn respect. If they get to be around the airplanes too well that will follow. This is what I will instill in my own little girl.......................BTW is named "Piper"

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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005

I have three kids - the youngest is a dancer and that is that. My two boys are into the warbirds at different levels. One of them is really really into it as evidenced by the photo with LtCol Kingsley here. "Kingman" and my son just hit it off and dang if they are still flying A-10s when he is old enough my bet is he will be there first in line. One big thing was that at the air show I help put on, they got to wipe the oil off of a F4U-5. They got dirty but they also warbirds under thier skin!



Tom P.

And get those little rug rats out there turning some wrenches so they can earn their keep! As Ron Swanson says "child labor laws are ruining this country!"

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Ken Terpstra

Vice-President
Stockton Field Aviation Museum
PV-2D Harpoon 84062

Up here in Canada, I see some of the Museums organize sleepovers under the wings of the aircraft
This has been done by Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and school classes
The whole thing is set up and both educational and fun.
Canadian Warplane Heritage for example has found this to be highly successful.

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Grown ups can help, but kids will find warbirds on their own if that is what interests them. A parent can expose a young person to warbirds, but the kid will make up his own mind whether he likes warbirds or not. When I was with CAF, you could tell what kids were interested in warbirds and which ones were not. Believe it or not, warbirds are not attractive to everyone. My folks had nothing to do with warbirds or flying and my brother and I found them okay. I found warbirds through the Lusitania, the subject of the first history book I ever read (about age seven). By the time I was in 8th Grade I was reading history books written for adults--many of them about warbirds. TM










And that guy should let his kids play video games, there is no real harm from it.

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

I'm glad to see you're teaching him to hold his tongue just right. Wrench won't work if ya' don't.

Mudge the observant

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Land of the free because of the brave

That guy would be me...... Don't get me wrong I don't demonize video games and don't think they are going to turn kids into some kind of monster. For me it comes down to what I prefer they do with their time. Between homework, practice, and chores it doesn't leave a whole lot of "free time". I'd rather have them choose to play in other ways. I think some kids would rather be playing a video game at the expense of other activities, in the car on the game, at the table on the game, alone in their bedroom on the game. I know not all but some, have one in the family. And I get everything in moderation but they seem to be doing fine without them.

Trust me I don't want my response to sound like I'm shaking a finger or preaching because I'm not. I for one am definitely not the fun Police. This is America! We are free to let'em play or not to play. It's really no business of mine. The purpose of my original statement was to dispel the myth that alot of people seem to have that all kids these days are either texting or banging on a game pad 24/7.

I know some great family time can be had while playing video games, but in this fast pace world with constant stimulation it's just my way of keeping them a little less "wired". Maybe I just dream of a simpler time?

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Ken Terpstra

Vice-President
Stockton Field Aviation Museum
PV-2D Harpoon 84062

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."