Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Aberdeen cadet 'excited' to fly

ABERDEEN, Miss. - Aberdeen High School Junior ROTC cadet Lydia Turner is “excited” nervous about an opportunity this summer that will teach her the ins and outs of an aircraft’s cockpit. The junior-student will be the first AHS student to be accepted to Flight Academy in Milton, Fla. “I’m scared but I think I’m more excited than scared about it. It’s something new, and I like trying new things,” she told the Monroe Journal. There are two flight academies, but she missed out of the other, but former AHS JROTC instructor Maj. Allen Williams encouraged her to keep striving. Recently, Williams was hired to run the flight simulator program at the AFJROTC national HQ at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. At the 3-week Flight Academy in Florida, cadets will be in uniform and learning more in-depth about aircraft. She already been hands-on through AHS’ flight simulators. In the simulator, cadets go through a checklist of gauges/controls before ascending from the runway just as a pilot would do. Then they simulate flight on the computer screen in a range of aircraft such as T-6s and A36s. After graduation, she wants to attend Texas Southern University and with future hopes of becoming an Air Force officer and a pilot. Aside from the JROTC program, Turner said history lessons on the Tuskegee Airmen helped inspire her future aspirations. The AHS JROTC program was recently featured in Ed Tech Magazine for its innovative lessons, which include cybersecurity, STEM curriculum and computer science, in addition to the flight simulators. (Source: Monroe Journal 05/10/21) JROTC cadet aims high with Flight Academy opportunity | News | djournal.com

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