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xu jianping guides students to learn about model aircraft. photo by our reporter zhou huan

members of the model aircraft team are playing a drone football match on the playground. photo by li guidong (people's vision)

in the early morning, on the playground of the central primary school of chishan town, shangli county, pingxiang city, jiangxi province, a unique drone football match was in full swing. the six members of wang fangqiu's model aircraft team skillfully operated the remote control, and the drone wrapped in a football-shaped shell moved quickly in the air, attacking, defending, dodging, shooting... the "football" shuttled back and forth, and the team members looked focused.

in 2022, the school established the wang fangqiu model aircraft team to commemorate wang fangqiu, a "good man in china" who has been teaching in the local area for more than ten years. "teacher wang built an aerospace technology room in the school, formed an intelligent drone team and a computer programming group, and sowed the seeds of model aircraft technology in the hearts of children." said chen aiming, principal of chishan town central primary school.

"we start by teaching how to make paper airplanes, then rubber band airplanes, foam airplanes, and then drone footballs, so that children can gradually master the skills of making complex aircraft and feel the charm of aviation sports," said xu jianping, a teacher at the school. he is one of the three instructors of the model airplane team. currently, there are more than 60 members in the team, which trains once a week and any student interested in the team can join. everyone is very enthusiastic in training, and even on holidays, they often get together to learn from each other.

"some production materials are relatively expensive, so we spend our money carefully. for the spare parts of the drone, we make what we can make and repair what we can repair ourselves. for the electronic components that must be purchased, we compare prices from three different stores and buy the ones with the best price-performance ratio." xu jianping introduced that the jiangxi aviation sports management center and other units also donated model aircraft equipment and sportswear to the school, and sent professional coaches to guide student training.

sixth-grade student li xinran has been on the team for more than a year and has a strong interest in aviation sports. "we train hard together and work together in competitions. we have won several championships," said li xinran. "in the future, i want to develop more intelligent drones to explore the unknown world."

"the school organizes a model aircraft team to participate in competitions every year, and the children continue to improve their skills," said xu jianping. "when they win, everyone builds confidence and summarizes experience; when they lose, everyone sits down and reviews the game together. through repeated competitions and training, the children have not only mastered knowledge, but also grown."

at the 2024 national aviation model open competition (gongqingcheng, jiangxi) held in june this year, wang fangqiu's aviation model team won the first and second place in the multi-axis drone football competition; at the jiangxi provincial aerospace model championship this year and last year, the aviation model team won the first and second place in the drone football competition for two consecutive years...

"through continuous learning and training, the children have not only mastered the knowledge and skills of aviation sports, but their scientific literacy, team awareness and innovation ability have also been improved. next, we will apply for a municipal-level model aircraft sports specialty school, prepare a model aircraft sports club, and light up the 'aviation dream' of more rural children." chen aiming said.

people's daily (september 2, 2024, 14th edition)