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Control surface cargo

Get stuck in to this team game as you learn about aircraft control surfaces.

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You’ll need

  • Blindfolds
  • Bean bag or similar

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

Planning this activity

  • Mark out an area to be the playing area.
  • Place an item of cargo somewhere in the area – near the middle’s usually best. It’s up to you what you use as cargo – you could use a tennis ball, beanbag, cone, or something else
  • You may want to find some images (or even point to a toy aeroplane) to help everyone understand any new words.

Running this activity

  1. Everyone should split into groups of three or four people.
  2. The person leading the activity should explain that aircraft can move freely in three directions; Roll, Pitch and Yaw, and introduce an action for each. 
    • Roll:  Rotation around the axis that runs from the front to the back of the aircraft. This causes the wings to tilt up and down, like a seesaw.
    • Pitch: Movement around the axis that runs from one side of the aircraft to the other. This controls the nose of the plane, making it move up or down.
    • Yaw:  Rotation around the vertical axis (up and down). This causes the nose of the plane to move left or right.
  3. Each group should choose one person to be the first aircraft. The aircraft should be blindfolded and hold their arms out like aircraft wings.
  4. When everyone is ready, the person leading the activity should call out "Go!". 
  5. The teams should stand outside the playing area and begin to direct their aircraft to the cargo, using the words corresponding to the actions they practised.
  6. Remind everyone that although planes have radars, people don't and teams should keep their plane safe from bumping into others. It may be useful to have an emergency stop call or whistle as a precaution. 
  7. When the aircraft reach the cargo they should pick it up and take it back to their team outside the playing area.
  8. Everyone should take it in turns to be the plane and collect cargo, until everyone’s had a turn at being the aircraft. 
  9. Then the person leading the activity should introduce new actions for the three primary control surfaces on an aircraft. 
    • Ailerons control the roll and are normally sited on the outer rear edge of each wing. They move in opposite directions, up and down, decreasing lift on one wing while increasing it on the other. This causes the airplane to roll to the left or the right. To tur the airplane, pilots use the ailerons to tilt the wing to the desired direction. 
    • Elevators control the pitch. They are located on the horizontal tail surface and tilt up or down. This decreases or increases lift on the tail. That in turn tilts the nose of the airplane up and down.
    • Rudder controls the Yaw. It is located on the vertical tail fin and swivels from side to side, pushing the tail in a left or right direction. The pilot usually uses the rudder along with the ailerons to turn the airplane. 
  10. Everyone should practise the new advanced actions.
  11. Groups should repeat taking it in turns being the plane and collecting cargo until everyone’s played using the advanced actions.

Basic actions

  • ‘Increase thrust’ – speed up.
  • ‘Decrease thrust’ – slow down.
  • ‘Pitch up’ – crouch.
  • ‘Pitch down’ – stand up tall.
  • ‘Yaw left’ – turn left.
  • ‘Yaw right’ – turn right.
  • ‘Roll left’ – learn to the left so your left arm’s lower.
  • ‘Roll right’ – lean to the right so your right arm’s lower.
  • ‘Collect the cargo’ – bend down and pick up the cargo.
  • ‘Drop the cargo’ – place the cargo on the floor.

Advanced actions

  • ‘Increase thrust’ – speed up.
  • ‘Decrease thrust’ – slow down.
  • ‘Elevators up’ – crouch.
  • ‘Elevators down’ – stand up tall.
  • ‘Rudder left’ – turn left.
  • ‘Rudder right’ – turn right.
  • ‘Ailerons left’ – learn to the left so your left arm’s lower.
  • ‘Ailerons right’ – lean to the right so your right arm’s lower.
  • ‘Collect the cargo’ – bend down and pick up the cargo.
  • ‘Drop the cargo’ – place the cargo on the floor.

Reflection

This activity was all about being a team player. Did everyone work well together? Did people find it easier to be the aircraft or the people giving directions? How did people feel when they couldn’t see where they were going and they had to rely on their teammates? Did it feel easier to trust them the second time?

This activity also needed everyone to communicate. Was it tricky to get used to the new words and terms? Which words were easiest to use? Did people try different techniques in the teams? Perhaps some people tried getting one person to speak at a time, for example. What made instructions easier to follow? People might think about speaking slowly and clearly (instead of shouting) or using names to get people’s attention.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Active games

The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.

  • For an extra challenge, ask the aircraft to spin around after they’ve put their blindfolds on.
  • You could move the cargo once the aircraft have put their blindfolds on so none of them know where the cargo is – they’ll really have to rely on their team’s instructions.
  • You could add more than one piece of cargo if you’ve got a bigger team (or want to make the game last longer).
  • If anyone doesn’t want to be blindfolded, they could just close their eyes.
  • No one has to have a turn at being the aircraft if they don’t want to.
  • If you need to, adapt the instructions so everyone can take part. Maybe people could move their heads up and down instead of crouching, for example.
  • If you don’t want the game to be at all competitive, each aircraft could aim to collect their team’s piece of cargo – that way, there are no winners.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.