On August 7th, 28 kids enjoyed their first flights in small aircraft. Volunteer Pilots Cliff Belleau, Burke Wick, Bernie Willis, and Edwin White made it possible—free-of-charge—as part of our partnership with the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles Program during our NextGen Aviation Camp. We hosted the camp at the Alaska Aviation Museum and immersed nearly fifty youth in aviation-related Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activities.
Aviation, of course, has played a major role in the Alaskan way of life before and throughout statehood, and a large part of our mission involves sharing that legacy with the upcoming generation. Unfortunately, young Alaskans tend to leave the state promptly upon graduating to seek out more promising job opportunities and to settle elsewhere.[i] We believe aviation could provide Alaska with a solution to retain some of these young people. Flying jobs in the lower-48 vary vastly from the eccentric work northern pilots conduct—where else can you make a living landing aircraft on glaciers? Our goal in hosting events like the NextGen Aviation Camp is to expose kids to the possibility of pursuing exciting, local aviation careers. We hope the memory of a flight in a floatplane over Lake Hood will stick in their minds and spark a passion for our unique way of flight.
The Alaska Aviation Museum volunteered their facilities and time to make the program possible. Their docents toured the facility with our campers, imparting aviation’s unique Alaskan role. Kids climbed aboard and old Fish and Wildlife Grumman Goose and ascended the retired Merrill Field control tower.
After the tour, the campers rotated through a handful of aviation STEM activities. They learned how aircraft controllers keep pilots and passengers safe and how fabricators cover aircraft in sheet metal. They transformed tissue paper, straws, and trash bags into parachutes—using aerodynamics to save falling eggs. Our volunteers taught them to build paper rockets and foam gliders. The University of Alaska’s Aviation Technology Division loaned us a cutaway aircraft engine that allowed kids to visualize how a piston-driven engine spins a propellor.
We hope that at least a few of the kids who participated in the camp will yearn to learn more about the planes that mingle in our skies. We are tremendously grateful for our volunteers and our partners. This event would certainly have not happened without them!
If you are interested in learning more about our youth programming, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. Our office line is (907) 245-1251, and you can reach us at info@alaskaairmen.org.
