See the Aviation Class and our adventures here!
Pre-flight Walk-around, Test Day:
Our first field trip is to Mitchinson's Flying Service, one of the local flight schools, where the Aviation 30 (Senior) students conduct the Walk-around Test for the Aviation 20 (Juniors) students. Conducted on a Cessna 152 and 172 the test is a 40 item pass/fail (100% or nothing) practical exam.They all passed!
Building in the Aviation Shop:
Aviation 20 students begin the Guillows Challenge
Aviation 20 students choose a balsa wood model kit to build. They learn the plan and then work the plan! What's the challenge? It has to FLY to pass their exam! Here they are at "work".
Aviation 30 students building in the Shop:
This year Aviation 30 students have two build project options. They get to finish one of three Radio Control flying models and complete the leading edge "D" box on the wing of an aluminum skinned airplane.
Aviation 30 students also get to "build" time on the Radio Control (RC) simulator. They have to earn their " A" wings here before they fly the real thing out at the RC airfield in May.
Aviation 30 students also get to "build" time on the Radio Control (RC) simulator. They have to earn their " A" wings here before they fly the real thing out at the RC airfield in May.
WMCI's 2012 Aviation Tour
Every year, as part of their hands-on learning, the Aviation Studies class travels on a tour to major aviation facilities in Western Canada. Recent trips have included Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Wetaskawin, and Cold Lake where we have toured West Jet, STARS rescue helicopters, Viking Aircraft, Canadian Propeller, Red River College, #17 Wing at CFB Winnipeg, the Maple Flag military exercise at CFB Cold Lake and a number of major aviation museums too!
This year the class has just returned from our Aviation in Saskatchewan Tour of #15 Wing at CFB Moose Jaw, where the students learned what it takes to be a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Base Adjutant, Captain Cranston, explained the RCAF and NATO flying training courses with a great dash of humour, wit and stories – some that we can’t repeat! As current Cadets, our tour guides, 2nd Lieutenant Knight, and 2nd Lieutenant Broussard, showed us first hand, the ins and outs of the rest of the training program. They did a terrific job! Included were up close demos of the flight simulators for the Harvard II turbo-prop and the Hawk jet, the ejection seat simulators (how was the ride Bradley?), the Hawk and Harvard themselves and of course, the home hangar of the SNOWBIRDS where we also met Captain Denis Bandet (Snowbird 6, Outer Right Wing) of Regina, SK .
That was just the first day. The next day we went to Western Development Museum where Russell Ferguson, from the Vintage Aircraft Restoration Group, showed us the progress on their current build job - the Vickers Vedette flying boat. He also explained the build story of their Avro Anson, used as a twin engine trainer during W.W. II. We all have a little “extra special connection” to that Anson now! Thank you Russ! Aviation is not just another class - it’s an adventure!
So join us for our next Aviation class and come see where we’ll go and what we can get into!
Mr. Armstrong