(Also found some old pageant photos, but I refuse to give those up willingly.)
My ranking for the first science fair project I ever did: http://is.gd/vqv
&
An interview for my aviation class:
Jerry Moore (Admin)
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| Posted on Thursday, January 08, 2004 - 3:29 pm: |      |
Students' aviation careers get a lift
By MELISSA WALKER / Desmoines (Iowa) Register Staff Writer
Students in the aviation technology program at Central Campus have opportunities available to them that no other high-schooler in the United States can experience.
Seniors can spend eight weeks of their final semester in a school-to-work program with the 132nd Fighter Wing Iowa Air National Guard Unit, working under the supervision of technicians on return-to-service aircraft that have been used as top cover for the president.
Excellent! S-G has the Empire State Aerosciences Museum, which restores old aircraft, that could provide an equivalent experience. We also have the Stratton Air National Guard Base. Central offers one of four aviation programs on the high school level that teaches technology at this depth and is the only one with an Air National Guard partnership.
"We're doing things here that no other school in the nation has done," said Jerry Bradley, department chairman and instructor of the program. "Is it working? Yes. If you look at the numbers of our students that are finishing this program and going on to post-secondary work or going into the aviation field and pursuing a career in what they chose, it's high."
About 50 percent to 60 percent of students enter the field out of high school, he said. Some clean airplanes and perform other maintenance-type work at the Des Moines airport.
Aviation technology is a three-year program that covers three areas - general, airframe and power plant. Students must pass a Federal Aviation Administration test after completing each area. A student can receive 48 hours of college credit from Des Moines Area Community College.
Jake Garrison of Humboldt works in the Air National Guard engine shop and is enrolled in the class through DMACC to get his airframe and power plant license.
"That's what you need to become a mechanic for a commercial airline," he said.
Garrison said he will continue his education at the University of Dubuque to get his pilot's license.
In the general class, students cover everything from weight and balance to corrosion control to safety wiring. One of the first projects the students do is design and make a model airplane.
Students then focus on the airframe and the mechanical aspect of the plane and power plant. The airframe is everything outside of the power plant - the structure, interior, landing gear and communication and navigation systems.
"I wanted to see if aviation was an interesting career field," East High School junior Dana Piatt said.
Piatt said he eventually wants to become a pilot but knows he still has a long way to go.
"You have to learn everything to pretty much be a mechanic before you can be a pilot," he said.
Although many of the 79 students want to become pilots, the class is not geared to teach them how to fly.
"They're going to learn a huge amount of information that if that's where they want to go, it's going to give them an excellent start," Bradley said.
The classroom is located in a building at the airport where students can see F-16s loading and commercial aircraft taking off. Students listen to guest lecturers and some shadow mechanics at businesses such as Elliott Aviation or, like West Central Valley senior Desarae Veit, work with the airport fire department.
The program has its own hangar with fully operational aircraft and equipment worth $5.5 million including a Gulfstream G-1 plane worth $730,000, an F-16 engine, a T-39 Sabreliner and a Huey helicopter. The equipment was purchased for $6,000 and some has been donated.
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