Girls and flying -- an interesting experience with the Kiwi

We witnessed an interesting thing last night, and it gives me hope for
the future of GA.

Becca, our middle-school-aged daughter, threw a little Christmas party
for friends, and held it in our hotel meeting room/theater, with the
idea that they'd all watch a movie after listening to music and eating
snacks. Since it was to be just 8 girls, and 2 boys, a movie seemed
like a good way to break the ice and keep the conversation rolling --
always an awkward thing at that age.

The Kiwi -- our full-sized flight simulator -- (see it he
http://alexisparkinn.com/the_kiwi_is_born.htm ) is in the theater, too,
and I thought we'd have to remove it to make room for tables, etc.
Instead, my daughter asked me to have it on and available, just to
provide one more thing for the kids to do.

So, I created a couple of simple-but-cool flight scenarios (over the
Grand Canyon, for example) where the plane was already airborne
(eliminating the boring and difficult departure phase), and watched as
the party started cooking, and the girls started taking turns flying.

I figured that -- girls being girls -- they would be indifferent at
best to what amounts to a giant-scale video game, and would soon be
talking girl talk. After all, game marketers have spent billions of
dollars trying to design video games to attract a female audience, to
no avail -- girls simply don't like to play 'em as much as guys -- so
what chance did I have?

Well, to my utter amazement, the girls were absolutely dazzled by the
Kiwi. At one point they were fighting over flight time, and I was kept
busy explaining the flight controls and techniques. One girl in
particular (Becca's best friend, whom we have taken flying in the past)
was completely immersed in the experience, and was actually able to
depart from Chicago's (defunct) Meigs Field, fly the pattern out over
the lake -- and land successfully, on the runway! This without EVER
having piloted a plane (or a simulator) before, which I found to be
completely remarkable.

(She was as proud as a peacock, and spent the rest of the evening
asking Mary and me about flight lessons, costs, etc. She's a natural
pilot, and, boy, are her parents every gonna hate US... :-)

Mary eventually had to threaten to eliminate the movie from the
evening's festivities to get the girls to shut it down -- but as soon
as the movie ended, they were clamoring for more flight time! I've
never, ever seen anything like this with girls (Becca can fly the Kiwi,
but is far from enamored with it), and it gives me great hope for the
future of GA.

We, as GA supporters, clearly need to see more Kiwis installed, and --
as the prototype for what we want to install at the Iowa Children's
Museum -- I believe our Kiwi Version 2.0 has proven that the concept
works. This thing clearly "hooks" young people on flying, and that's
what we need if we want to see GA survive and prosper.

Mary and I spent some time pondering some of the reasons why this
transpired. One guess was that the Kiwi is just *so* realistic that it
really doesn't seem like a game? Another possibility was that there is
no real "game" aspect to flying the Kiwi -- no points are scored, no
kills recorded -- and perhaps this appeals more to girls?

I dunno. But it was fantastic to watch them fly, and great fun, too!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck writes:

Mary and I spent some time pondering some of the reasons why this
transpired. One guess was that the Kiwi is just *so* realistic that it
really doesn't seem like a game?

That's certainly part of it. Everyone (irrespective of sex) enjoys a
realistic simulation.

Another possibility was that there is no real "game" aspect to flying
the Kiwi -- no points are scored, no kills recorded -- and perhaps
this appeals more to girls?

It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on. Most video games are very highly optimized to appeal to
boys, and thus often do not appeal to girls. But girls like games
that are optimized for them, and games that are intended for everyone.

A simulator really isn't a game, though, and so the rules for games
don't apply to begin with. Everyone likes simulators, as it allows
them to try things they wouldn't otherwise be able to try--and safely.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

..................

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing! And
love crashing!

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

.................

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing!
And
love crashing!


They sound like an entertaining group. But there's no way I'd with them!

Peter

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
news:Tayhh.279$_X.206@bigfe9...

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than
10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0,
and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

.................

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to
find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing!
And
love crashing!


They sound like an entertaining group. But there's no way I'd with them!

Peter


There's nothing quite like ruining a quick remark....

That was supposed to read: "There's no way I'd ride with them!"

Peter

The Old Bloke writes:

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing! And
love crashing!

Maybe they like car racing because they've actually driven a car,
whereas they don't like flying because they have no familiarity with
piloting. To some extent you have to be able to relate to an activity
before you can enjoy it in simulation. The more accurate the
simulation, the more true I think this becomes.

I know a couple of women who really enjoy car racing games. I met one
who enjoyed Tomb Raider not long ago, which surprised me a bit more.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

I wonder if they would have been as interested had it been a mixed sex
party.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose writes:

I wonder if they would have been as interested had it been a mixed sex
party.

If they are younger than puberty, I'd say yes, although they might
have been much less likely to admit it. If they are past puberty,
they definitely would have been less interested, as the mating
instinct (in both sexes present) would tend to override many other
considerations.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

I wonder if they would have been as interested had it been a mixed sex
party.

There were two boys in the group.

They were into it, too -- but that's not surprising.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"