Every scout who earns their Eagle rank must include a service project as part of their requirements. The troop was lucky enough to be able to assist with Alejandro’s project which was a beautification of the San Lorenzo Community Church grounds.
Here, the scouts are laying the watering lines and plantings as the final step in the project. The previous week, Alejandro and his team of volunteers laid the gravel bed and landscape fabric.
First off, this isn’t Ground Control, it’s the tower at Hayward Airport. Second, this isn’t just Troop 612, but also Troop 2612, our girls’ troop. That said, Troop 612 and 2612 to Haward Tower doesn’t make for a catchy title. Or does it..?
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about what we did.
In lieu of our regularly scheduled Troop meeting, about 30 Scouts, Leaders, and a few siblings visited the Haward Airport Control Tower.
With so many participants, we had to go in shifts. Three groups of ten took turns climbing the four-story tower to learn why someone becomes an air traffic controller, what they do, and how they can learn to do it to.
They why is simple, they want to do their part to keep people in the air and on the ground safe. What they do is a little more complicated. It involves tracking planes, their speeds, altitudes, and direction. Comparing that to other planes in the area, and anticipating potential risks.
Of course, many of the scouts were more fascinated by the unofficial mascot, then the technology involved.
How to learn involves a few options. 1) learn in the military which may not be fast, but is very thorough and very common. 2) attend a school that trains Air Traffic Controllers. 3) get hired off the street. This third option may seem least likely but is rather common because the demand is greater than the supply. If hired off the street (and being thoroughly vetted) you would then be sent to training for about six weeks.
But in the end, the rewards can be amazing. Just look at that sunset.
This weekend was an overnight event at SACRC in Union City. While the camping wasn’t as woodsy as we’re used to, the opportunity was just what we needed. And while this did include an overnight experience, it was close enough to home to be a single day outing as an option.
Saturday started off with everyone getting a chance to fly high-quality remote-controlled planes. A scout would get a lesson in how planes flew, how the controls worked and what rules to follow.
While flying was fun, it wasn’t all fun and games. Due to technical difficulties, we did have two casualties right of the bat.
Some of these airplanes are very detailed. One dropped a parachute, others had contrails, and there were even a helicopter and something that looked like a jet-glider hybrid that had to be thrown to launch and skidded to a stop when landing.
Later that day when the winds were too strong for flying, the scouts when a little 2-mile hike to practice their orienteering. The terrain wasn’t very challenging but even the little levy and twisty trail were enough to show how easy it was to get lost.
After the hike through the beautiful Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, the scout patrols started making dinner. Some patrols played it safe and simple while others challenged themselves to try something new.
But have no fear, the adults always make the best meals.
Once night came, all was quiet and we could enjoy the feeling of isolation while only being 1,500 feet from a residential neighborhood.
In the morning the scouts had breakfast and a chance to fly a drone or where a VR headset that gave them a drone’s eye view. Then we broke camp and headed home which was all of 16 minutes away.
As part of the Troop’s Aviation Series of lessons, we visited Hayward Airport and got an up-close and personal view of a small private plane.
This particular plane was about 50 years old and was hand-painted by the previous owner. It sits two and looks like a joy to fly. And it’s beautiful too.
Our guide walked us through the various pre-flight checklist items, explaining what they were and why they were being checked. If your car stalls, you just pull over to the shoulder. Flying at 10,000 feet is not the place to figure out you have a problem.
Did you notice the little treaded machine in the above photo? That’s a remote-controlled towing device for moving the plane in and out of the hanger. Here’s another shot showing the robotic tow up close.
After our pre-flight check, we had the chance to see an even older plane. This Navy plane had a far more powerful engine but less of the amenities of the first plane we saw.
