Third Annual Kid’s Day at Calhoun County Airport

by: Jasmine Gordon under: News on: May 10, 2011


Calhoun County Airport hosted its third annual Kid’s Aviation Day on Friday, May 6th. Students from Travis Middle School, Port O’Connor Elementary and Seadrift School arrived at the airport enthusiastic to learn about aviation.

“Kid’s Day is my favorite day of the year,” commented airport manager, Dianna Stanger. “350 kids from Calhoun County schools were exposed to various walks of aviation.”

This year the students rotated around 14 different stations, nearly doubling from the prior year.

“I am grateful to all the volunteers that came out on their own time to share their aviation experiences with these kids. We had such a wide variety of stations to let the kids explore, from corporate pilots to crop dusters and emergency personnel.” said FBO manager, Steve Plunkett. “It was very rewarding seeing the students interacting with everyone.”

Present were; the National Weather Service, Girls With Wings, Euro Chopper, Cessna 172 SP, Hawker Beech Premier Jet, Piper PA18A, Air Tractor, Civil Air Patrol, Precinct 2 Commissioner, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Victoria Tower manager, Calhoun County Emergency Medical Service, Six Mile Fire Department and Calhoun County Fire Department.

Principal Lydia Strakos commented, “The students from Port O’Connor said the trip was very informative, many of them are now interested in learning to fly. They greatly enjoyed themselves and can’t wait to visit the airport again!”

“It was a wonderful event! The pilots were so knowledgeable; there was something that caught each of the student’s attention.” expressed Seadrift School 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Henderson.

Calhoun Air Center strives to encourage, enlighten and introduce them to the avenues readily available to them. The students were given the opportunity to sit inside of the airplanes and helicopter. They learned the differences between each plan and principals of flight.

“I was really impressed with the kids’ level of knowledge about subjects such as the effect of wind. It was great to see their enthusiasm to learn more about a jet’s performance.” said Lynda Meeks, Girls With Wings founder.

Special thanks to all of the pilots and volunteers that helped make this event possible!

Calhoun County EMS: Angie Gaona, Chris Pena, Henry Barber
Calhoun County Fire Department: Jeremy Marek, Griffin Herring
6 Mile Fire Department: John Wood
Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden: Philip Bird
Civil Air Patrol: Wes Cole, Bob Curtis
Coast Guard Auxiliary: Fred Sturmberg, Jim Dering
National Weather Service: Christina Barron, Roger Gass
Cropdusters: John Sterling and David Hahn
Victoria Tower Manager: Jack Lill
Girls With Wings: Lynda Meeks
Volunteer: Larry Robinson

2011 Sponsors:

Texas Department of Transportation – Aviation Division
A.O.P.A. – Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Girls With Wings
Powder Puff Pilot

 

Post comment