IHS Aviation Club tours CCBC and the Air Heritage Museum

By NICK DRAHNAK

The IHS aviation club were once again be on the road for yet another field trip!  This time it was to Beaver County Community College to tour the aerospace facility as well as the air heritage museum.  This trip has been a work in progress since the group returned from their last field trip which was to Penn Tech in Williamsport, PA and the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven, PA.  Nathanael Arthurs and Mr. Puskar have both worked very hard together to reach out to seek prior approval from the school district for this trip to commence.  Enough money had to be raised and with the help of sponsorship this field trip was able to occur.  

It was a very fun and interactive experience for the teachers as well as all the students involved in the IHS aviation club.  After a 2 hour drive up to Beaver, students were able to get involved in  many educational activities and talk to very interesting people.  Upon first arrival, students actively participated in a few photographs taken to commemorate the field trip.  They were then let inside and were greeted by a few of the lead instructors as well as the dean of the aerospace program.  They first spoke about what their program was about how everything operates.  After which, it was on with the rest of the tour.

Students were then led to the simulator area, where they were able to get actively involved in a few of the simulators on campus.  Most notably was the Redbird Flight Simulators which operate in full motion and have a fully interactive instrument panel that operates exactly the same as it would in a real airplane.  Most students seemed to enjoy this experience as well as the teachers and staff involved.  After which, students were able to get a brief introduction as well as a small tour of the Air Traffic Control program.  Shown were aeronautical charts, simulators, and radars meant for showing traffic.  In fact, the students run the real Air Traffic Control tower located at Beaver County Airport which students also got the opportunity to go up and explore.

Finally it was on to the Air Heritage Museum. At this museum, students were able to get up close with some very notable warbirds as well as airplanes that started an entirely new kind of model.  There were various Huey Helicopter fuselages, one of which the doors opened and students were able to get inside and pretend to fly.  It was a very fun filled day and everyone gained so much knowledge from the people that gave us the tours.  I was able to speak to a few students on what their thoughts were on the trip.  

Senior Bernadette Batuncang said “I thought it was great.  I really enjoyed learning about the courses offered at Community College of Beaver County that were related to aviation.  My favorite part of the aviation field was trying out the red bird flight simulator.  It was a very exciting experience.”  Freshmen Sam Marshall when asked said “I thought it was very fun and informative.  My favorite part was most likely the red bird flight simulator.”  And Freshmen Justin Swanik told me  “It was good.  I had fun.  Probably the flight simulator.”

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