Flying program lifts middle-schoolers to new heights
Students meet with instructors two hours each week as they learn the geometry of flight, build a wooden wing section, and immerse themselves in basic aviation terminology and theory.
Gabe Winnie, 12, of Dover sits in the co-pilot seat during his first flight piloted by Mark Mathias after participating in the Wright Flight course, a community outreach program of EAA Chapter 1077 Flight Center, which is adjacent to Harry Clever Airport.
Terry Henry, the chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1077, speaks to parents and students before the students take their first flights in the Wright Flight course, a program billed by the center as an educational, motivational and guidance course.
Saturday morning, March 24, more than two-dozen middle school-aged children gathered at Harry Clever Field in New Philadelphia. They met in the 20 F chill as the culmination of nine weeks of classwork in aviation. At long last they were going to fly a plane for themselves.
The Wright Flight course is a community outreach program of EAA Chapter 1077 Flight Center, which is adjacent to Harry Clever Airport. The students meet with instructors two hours each week as they learn the geometry of flight, build a wooden wing section, and immerse themselves in basic aviation terminology and theory. The program is billed by the center as an “educational, motivational and guidance course.”
Dover Middle School student Kyra Drescher stood bundled against the cold with her mother, Lisa Kaufman, just off the runway at Harry Clever Field as small propeller planes roared to life one by one.
“My friend took the course and was really excited about it,” Drescher said. “So I wanted to do it also.”
“She’s been really into the whole class, very interested,” Kaufman said. “We learned right away that we didn’t dare be late for the class, or she was upset. She is always talking about what she learns. Many kids are buried in their phones or games or computers. This program gets them out and active, learning new things and growing, and for that I am truly grateful.”
The planes began making their way down the runway toward takeoff, each loaded with a pilot and student at their side with family members often taking up the rear seats. As other families waited their turn, they watched with a mixture of excitement and reservation as the tiny planes, light enough to be pushed out of their parked spots only moments before by a single man, rose into the cloudy sky.
Emma Davis is a sixth-grade Welty Middle School student, the daughter of Lisa and Ken Davis of New Philadelphia. “I was a little scared at the beginning of the class, really,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
She said the class brought her new knowledge and experience. “One of the big things we learned was wing lift and geometry,” Davis said. “If a wing is just flat, the plane won’t go up into the air. It has to have wind resistance.”
Davis particularly enjoyed building a wing rib and using the workshop tools.
As planes began returning from their short flights, 12-year-old Gabe Winnie of Dover arrived back on the ground wide-eyed. “We spent some time before we took off and in the air learning more about the controls,” he said. “It was amazing. Then the pilot let me take the controls and told me to turn. I could really feel the plane move with what I was doing.”
Winnie said he also began taking the class on the advice of a friend. “The whole thing has really been fun,” he said.
James Cooper, 13, lives in Bolivar and is a student at Dover Middle School. He had flown before. “My dad has worked on planes for a long time,” he said, “so this wasn’t the first time.”
Asked if he had been able to take the controls for a moment, he said his pilot did far more. “I had control for most of the flight,” he said with a smile.
Cooper learned of the classes through a flier at school and thought it sounded fun and interesting.
For more information about the Wright Flight course, call EAA Chapter 1077 educational hanger chairman Terry Henry at 330-340-2999.