The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) wrapped up\nits fifth High School Aviation STEM Symposium at United Airlines Flight\nTraining Center in Denver this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event included a dozen breakout sessions; keynote\naddresses from leaders at United Airlines, Uber Elevate, and the Air Force; as\nwell as opportunities for teachers to network and share ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Young people can do anything they set out to do as long as\nthey have encouragement and a good support team, said retired U.S. Air Force\nThunderbirds demonstration squadron commander Kevin Robbins in a keynote during\nthe fifth annual AOPA High School Aviation STEM Symposium November 10 and 11 in\nDenver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t let other people discourage you from achieving your\ndreams,\u201d he told more than 350 science, technology, engineering, and math\n(STEM) educators during the two-day gathering that focused on leadership, best\nlearning practices, and hands-on projects designed to engage youth in aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the attendees was Kevin Moss, a California high school\nteacher and a rusty pilot who was excited to \u201cget back into aviation\u201d after\nserving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot. The Army and Navy\nAcademy aviation program founder said he was offered a regional airline\nposition but turned it down to dedicate himself to helping young people achieve\ntheir goals. \u201cThat lit a spark and I\u2019ve been going 110 miles per hour ever\nsince.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moss met retired Piedmont Air Lines Capt. Warren Wheeler, a\nNorth Carolina flight instructor, when the two picked up their registration\nmaterial, and it led to a chat about college football. Moss was incredulous\nwhen United Airlines check pilot Capt. Ray Evans stopped by to weigh in on the\nweekend\u2019s sports news and scooped both of them up for a Boeing 737 simulator\nflight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
High school aviation teacher and retired U.S. Marine\nhelicopter pilot Kevin Moss smiles after landing a Boeing 737 simulator at the\nUnited Airlines training facility in Denver. Photo by David Tulis.Evans led\nthem to one of the company\u2019s 32 multimillion-dollar flight simulators housed at\nUnited\u2019s Flight Training Center, the location for the 2019 aviation STEM\nsymposium and one of the world\u2019s largest airline pilot training facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evans challenged the two pilots with emergency scenarios\nincluding a failed engine on takeoff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
High school aviation teacher and retired U.S. Marine\nhelicopter pilot Kevin Moss smiles after landing a Boeing 737 simulator at the\nUnited Airlines training facility in Denver. Photo by David Tulis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s pretty cool how realistic it is,\u201d said Moss, who\noccupied the first-officer position and helped Wheeler keep the jetliner\u2019s nose\non the horizon during the high-density-altitude scenario. Then they switched\nroles and Moss flew an ILS Category 1 approach down to the minimum altitude. He\nmanaged a smooth landing, marveled at the glass-cockpit instrumentation, and\nconceded that his students \u201ccould probably do a lot better than me\u201d because of\ntheir familiarity with video games. He presumed he maintained the overall\nadvantage \u201cbecause they can\u2019t explain where density altitude comes from and\nthat\u2019s why they need me,\u201d he deadpanned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
United Airlines Senior Vice President of Flight Operations\nBryan Quigley told educators that the aviation industry was striving to catch\nup on hiring demands in the face of impending pilot retirements, continued\ngrowth, and worldwide demand for air travel. \u201cI do believe the demand is\nintense for pilots and I do believe there is a pilot shortage out there,\u201d he\ntold them. \u201cWe need new blood and new talent, and we need them in all areas\u201d of\naviation, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost said during an\nafternoon keynote that the future of flight is both \u201cin [the] air and in\nspace\u2014and in manned and unmanned operations.\u201d She asked educators to look for\nthe \u201cdiamond in the rough\u201d students and to nurture them until they shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Texas science teacher and private pilot Larry Anderson said\nhe was \u201cexcited\u201d to learn about the AOPA high school aviation STEM curriculum\nbecause \u201caviation is one of the best formats for teaching life skills.\u201d He\nadded that the \u201camazing\u201d feeling of flying can\u2019t be described \u201cuntil you\u2019ve\nexperienced it for yourself.\u201d The football coach and former aircraft owner said\nhe came out of semi-retirement to teach aviation because of a shortage of\nscience teachers in his school district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need you\u2014we absolutely need you,\u201d echoed Susan White,\nthe senior manager for pilot recruiting at United Airlines during a panel\ndiscussion on career choices. \u201cYou are making a difference in the world of\naviation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AOPA STEM conference for educators began in 2015 with\naspirations to give high school leaders an opportunity to network, hear from\nfellow aviation professionals, and learn from each other. Since then, AOPA has\ncoached hundreds of teachers and provided them with classroom resources and hands-on\ntraining that make learning fun and informative, while exposing students to\naviation careers that they may not have previously considered. In the current\nschool year, more than 5,000 ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders at 161 schools\nin 34 states are utilizing the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are going to change the world,\u201d said AOPA President\nMark Baker, who thanked teachers for their untiring support of youth. \u201cYou are\nchanging young people\u2019s lives, I guarantee it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2020 AOPA High School Aviation STEM Symposium will be\nheld in Orlando, Florida, November 9 and 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The You Can Fly program and the Air Safety Institute are\nfunded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3)\norganization. To be a part of the solution, visit www.aopafoundation.org\/donate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) wrapped up its fifth High School Aviation STEM Symposium at United Airlines Flight Training Center in Denver this year. The event included a dozen breakout sessions; keynote addresses from leaders at United Airlines, Uber Elevate, and the Air Force; as well as opportunities for teachers to network and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14247,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14246\/revisions\/14247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}