Features,  Honors & AwardsAnnouncements, Calendar

Features

Kids get exciting peek
at careers in aviation

[JUNE 18, 2002]  Eighteen central Illinois students, who had just finished their school year, went back to school at Heritage in Flight Museum during Aviation Careers Week, June 3-7.

Brennan Boss, James Cosby, John and Kelsey Dallas, Brittany Dickson, Andrew Dugan, John Martina, Ryan Miller and Christopher Sandborn attended from Lincoln. Bianca and Logan Ramos and Alex Sellers made the daily commute from Mason City, while Kyle Farmer came in from Middletown. Sangamon County was represented by Aaron Bender of Springfield and Aaron McGee of Chatham, and Neal Reed and Keith Underkoffler came from Bloomington.

After welcoming the students to Heritage in Flight Museum, Milt Underkoffler pointed out that there are careers in aircraft manufacturing, aircraft maintenance, aircraft operations, aircraft safety enforcement, and the design and operation of aviation facilities. He stressed that while some of these require only a high school education, many of them require a college degree.

 

Curtis Fox then discussed the categories of flight and the rules and privileges of the various Federal Aviation Administration certificates. The three-hour session included a discussion of airframe and power plant mechanics certification and the training and function of flight controllers. The requirements for positions at airports, airlines and aircraft manufactures were also discussed. The first afternoon concluded with a discussion and a listing of the pay for the various aviation careers.

Tuesday was military day, and the arrival of an Army Black Hawk helicopter started an afternoon of discussion of full-time military aviation careers, part-time military careers and how the military experience can advance civilian aviation careers. The Black Hawk departure brought cheers as the pilots demonstrated their capabilities. After the Black Hawk departed, pilot Curtis Fox was able to give most of the cadets an orientation flight in a fixed-wing aircraft.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

Wednesday, United Airlines Captain Scott Blickenstaff, who had just returned from a six-day trip to Hong Kong as a pilot on a Boeing 747, answered questions in three one-hour sessions. Scott told the cadets how he advanced from a charter pilot for the fixed base operator at the Bloomington Airport to a captain for United Airlines. Scott also told them about changes that had taken place at United Airlines since Sept. 11.

On Thursday airport designer and manager Neil Ralston told the cadets how he had prepared to be an airline pilot and then decided to redirect his career toward airport management, design and construction. The three-hour session ended when parents arrived to take home their recently trained computer-generated airport plan designers.

On Friday Jim Cunningham, a certified ground school instructor, brought his Cub Arrow from Bloomington to serve as the centerpiece for a mini ground school course. He talked about and then showed the systems of his airplane.

 

Ryan Wells acted as HIF sergeant-at-arms throughout the week. He gave rides in the jeep, led students through the Huey and Corsair II, and provided general assistance and direction for the cadets and instructors.

The 18 cadets who started and finished the Aviation Careers Week included students with ambitions to become a pilot of Air Force One, an astronaut, an engineer and one intending to become an airline owner.

"We will preserve the picture board of the class of 2002 pictures at the Heritage in Flight Museum so we can follow their careers," stated Underkoffler.

[Milt Underkoffler, educational coordinator,
Heritage in Flight Museum]


Honors & Awards


Announcements

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Calendar

Letters to the Editor