According to WAI, approximately 30,000 girls took part in the 185 events at airports, FBOs, and aviation museums in 33 countries, 43 states, and two U.S. territories.

• READ MORE: Frontier of Flight Museum Event to Celebrate Women in Aerospace

WAI boasts multiple chapters in the U.S., as well in Europe, Africa, and Asia, in addition to year-round virtual resources available for free through the Aviation for Girls (AFG) app.

The event is designed to appeal to girls ages 8-18 and show them what careers are available in aviation and meet women who hold these careers and can act as mentors. In addition to pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants, girls participating in the event have an opportunity to learn about engineering, dispatching, and the numerous technical applications that go along with aviation.

Participants had a chance to meet female role models, listen to career panels, and get up close with different aircraft. The events often also include age-appropriate, hands-on activities, such as scavenger hunts and model making.

“We know Girls in Aviation Day has been instrumental in introducing opportunities in aviation and STEM to thousands of participants all around the world,” said WAI CEO Lynda Coffman. 

The first WAI International Girls in Aviation Day was held in 2015 and featured 32 events. According to WAI, the day is made possible through the support of many, including the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, PPG Foundation, Emanuel Bachmann Foundation, Sporty’s Pilot Shop, and JCL Aviation Services.

The post International Girls in Aviation Day Puts Spotlight on Industry Careers appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Wyche is set to speak at the “Women Take Flight: Fashion to Fission” luncheon at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas on October 1. The event is sponsored by JSX, a private jet service, and scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. CST.

As part of her anticipated keynote presentation, Wyche, who has been part of NASA’s leadership team for the past 20 years, is expected to discuss her professional journey and how STEM made it possible for her to pursue the career she enjoys.

“The Frontiers of Flight Museum is truly honored to have Vanessa Wyche as our phenomenal keynote speaker for our inaugural ‘Women Take Flight: Fashion to Fission’ luncheon,” said Abigail Erickson-Torres, president and CEO of the museum. 

The event includes a panel discussion featuring women who are leaders in the aerospace industry, including:

• Leanne Caret, retired president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security
• Dyan Medina Gibbens, pilot, SpaceWERX, and U.S. Space Force adviser
• Caeley Looney, CEO and founder of Reinvented Inc. and flight director at Firefly Aerospace
• Amy Spowart, CEO of the National Aeronautic Association

The panelists will be discussing the paths they took to achieve their successes in aerospace and offer suggestions on ways to support more girls and women with an interest in STEM.

Tickets for the lunch start at $185 and may be purchased here. Proceeds will go toward supporting future STEM programs at the museum, as well as creating a new permanent exhibit to honor women in aerospace.

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Sometimes middle school teachers reach out to the local aviation community looking for pilots who would be willing to visit their class to do a short, age-appropriate presentation about flying.

You don’t have to be a fighter pilot or hold a type rating to do this—but you do have to be engaging. As this school year picks up again, FLYING reached out to educators across the country for tips for a successful outcome for a middle school talk. Although the teachers asked us not to use their names because their schools have specific guidelines about appearing on social media, they had a plethora of knowledge to share.

• READ MORE: Oklahoma Schools Celebrate Aviation-Focused STEM Curriculum

Step 1: Meet the teacher in advance and speak their language.

Before you say yes, ask the teacher what the class has been studying, and then determine how aviation can be applied to enhance their understanding of the topic. Often the teacher will offer a specific topic they would like you to discuss, like aerodynamics or weather, but many are open to suggestions. Your presentation needs to dovetail with what has already been taught.

“Keep in mind that most teachers are probably not pilots,” said Elizabeth Tennyson, chief operating officer for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which does extensive outreach work with STEM education that includes helping teachers develop a curriculum that is age-appropriate.

“Pilot guest speakers need to avoid the jargon and acronyms we use so often in aviation. Taking a moment to explain terms and providing a cheat sheet with acronyms or key concepts is helpful.”

One way to engage the teachers is to take them for a short flight in advance of the presentation. They may want to record the event and share the video with their class.

Step 2: Manage expectations.

On the day of the talk, give the teacher a short bio so they can introduce you to the class. Every teacher interviewed for this piece warned us that maturity runs the gamut at this age, so you need to expect short attention spans, lots of energy, students who are easily distracted and have low impulse control, and those who will crack jokes in an attempt to get attention. This can throw off the room, so be prepared. The teacher will probably have suggestions and methods for getting the class back on track.

Begin the talk with a short oral quiz—no more than three to five questions to establish the class interest level and determine its energy. Some examples: “Who here has flown in a small airplane?” “Can anyone tell me what the four forces of flight are?” “What generates lift?”

I am a big fan of the last question followed by a short demonstration of lift by blowing on a piece of paper (like you are blowing out candles on a birthday cake) and having the paper rise as your breath—the accelerated air molecules going over the paper not unlike the relative wind over an airfoil—creates lift.

Weather is a popular topic for presentation as it impacts everything—they have seen fog, rain, and ice (most likely), and you can share with them how weather forms and how pilots adapt to it.

Step 3: Present your talk.

Expect to talk for 10 to 15 minutes tops, and if you can, make it an illustrated lecture such as a PowerPoint or have props like sectionals, airfoils, models, or an E6-B flight computer to show and hold the students’ interest. 

“Don’t be afraid to use whatever tools you’ve got—pictures, simulations, simple experiments, or demonstrations and personal stories—to bring ideas to life,” said Tennyson. “Teachers are just like the rest of us—they learn better when they’re engaged—so make room for discussion and give-and-take rather than lecturing. 

Step 4: Do an activity.

Hands-on projects can be helpful for learning to take place, but they can also take a lot longer than anticipated, especially when the class is large. Keep it simple, teachers say, and always make sure you have cleared the activity with them, as some may not be appropriate. Several teachers warned us that making paper airplanes can lead to unplanned air-to-air combat.

Pro tip: It is often a good idea to have another pilot (or two depending on the size of the class) with you to assist in the project—for example, if you teach the class to use mechanical E6-Bs to answer time, speed, and distance questions as part of a VFR navigation log. I am particularly fond of this exercise, as I love the look on the kids’ faces when I unveil the giant E6-B and hand out a stack of the smaller ones for use. “If you hate story problems, you’ll love the E6-B,” I tell them, as when I was in middle school I thought story problems were cruel and unusual punishment. Having the directions for how to solve time, speed, and distance printed right on the instrument makes it so much easier.

Step 5: Answer questions.

The kids will have questions but also want to share their stories. Be prepared to tell them how to pursue specific careers in aviation, especially how much education they will need.

Step 6: Offer giveaways—maybe.

These can be tricky. Posters are cool, unless the student has housing insecurity. Balsa gliders or jacket fobs are often a better choice as they are portable. Often businesses have them as giveaways at trade shows. 

Step 7: What do you do after the presentation?

End the presentation by letting the kids know of age-appropriate aviation activities outside the school. For example, if there is a chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association around, let the students know about Young Eagles flights, or perhaps there is an Aviation Explorer Scout program in your area. For all you know, one of those kids may be so inspired by your talk that in a few years you run into them at the airport (where they work) or maybe even see them on the NASA TV channel. It could happen.

The post Bring Aviation to Middle Schools appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Held annually, the competition is designed to promote STEM education for high school students. It is open to the first 150 teams—one per school—that register and culminates in a virtual fly-off. 2024 will be the 12th year for the challenge.

“Hands-on experience with the industry offers a tremendous value to student learning,” said Michael Capuana, director of 2018 winning high school Erie 1 BOCES Career & Technical Education in West Seneca, New York. “As we need more young people to enter STEM careers, all efforts to increase student engagement are embraced. Thank you to GAMA and its partners for their efforts. This opportunity is truly one of a kind.”

• READ MORE: Calling All Students: GAMA Launches Annual Aviation Design Challenge

To start the contest, schools participating in the challenge receive GAMA’s “Fly to Learn” curriculum along with X-Plane-powered flight simulation software. The materials are designed to be taught in four to six weeks and guide students through the “science of flight and airplane design.” Teams must then use what they learn to modify a virtual aircraft for a specified mission profile.

The final stage of the competition is a virtual fly-off, where teams must complete the simulated mission using their modified designs. Entries are scored based on aerodynamic and performance parameters. Winners are decided based on the fly-off results and other factors that have in years past included items such as a checklist of steps related to a virtual demonstration flight and video submission summarizing what they learned.

The team placing first will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to “experience general aviation manufacturing firsthand.” Second place earns a two-day STEM lab hosted by Redbird Flight Simulations. Challenge entries will be submitted in April with winners announced in May.

More information about GAMA’s Aviation Design Challenge is available here.

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Mental Math for Pilots, Third Edition by Ronald D. McElroy–now available from Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA)–can help you with that.

According to ASA, the book teaches readers how to solve math problems in the cockpit without calculators, using solutions that are simple and practical for airborne contingencies. The mental math tools can be used in flight planning and to help pilots stay ahead  in the cockpit by performing more efficiently.

• READ MORE: Math 101 for Pilots

“In this book, pilots can learn the tricks of the trade for the areas where they have traditionally needed to sharpen their mental math skills: fuel planning, temperature conversions, reciprocal headings, turn radius, crosswind components, time-speed-distance problems, calculating true airspeed, the 60-to-1 rule, and many others,” ASA said in a release.

Among the techniques is how to determine the reciprocal heading by adding or subtracting 200 from a heading, then adjusting by adding or subtracting 20 to get the resultant. For example, if the aircraft is on a heading of 340 degrees – 200 = 140 + 20 = reciprocal of 340 is 160 degrees.

These skills can help pilots at all levels, including airline applicants during interviews.

In softcover, Mental Math for Pilots contains 104 pages and can be obtained from FBOs that stock pilot supplies, online retailers, or at asa2fly.com for $24.95.It is also available as an e-book for $19.95.

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How DonorsChoose.org Works

DonorsChoose.org, founded by a public high school teacher in New York in 2000, is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit. Since 2000, it has seen contributions of more than $1 billion to support some 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. The teachers post a wish list of sorts on the website.

DonorsChoose ensures the integrity of funding by vetting all requests, purchasing each item, and shipping materials directly to verified teachers. The items needed range from book bins and cleaning supplies for classrooms to three-dimensional models and funding for field trips to STEM-appropriate locations.

According to United, the donations will focus on classrooms in the airline’s seven hub markets: Hawaii, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York.

The remaining funds will be used over the next few months during a matching campaign to finance more aviation and STEM-focused projects. If teachers in the selected cities are interested in submitting a project to be considered for funding, they can visit donorschoose.org/teachers.

“United Airlines is helping classrooms launch into the new school year, with resources that will help aviation and STEM students thrive,” said Alix Guerrier, CEO of DonorsChoose. “Through this campaign, United Airlines is empowering youth who are tomorrow’s scientists, aviators, and engineers. This partnership will foster the beginnings of future careers.”

• READ MORE: Oklahoma Schools Celebrate Aviation-Focused STEM Curriculum

The hope is that the recipients of United Airlines’ support of STEM programs may grow up to work in the aerospace industry as engineers, pilots, maintenance technicians, or logistics personnel.

“Whether it’s using model planes to teach middle schoolers the dynamics of flight or taking a field trip to see how a simulator works, we’re proud to help teachers get the resources to inspire the next generation of aviators,” said Josh Earnest, United’s senior vice president and chief communications officer. “We’re proud to team up with DonorsChoose to support teachers who are doing incredible work and changing the lives of students around the country.”

The post United Donates $1.25 Million for School STEM Projects appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The museum has been in development for several years, designed in partnership with Dimensional Innovations, a Kansas-based experience design firm. 

The museum, located at Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport (K59) is being made possible through the support of Boeing, Bombardier, FedEx, Garmin, and Lockheed Martin. According to museum officials, the facility is designed to function as a blending of history and STEM education—with flight technology in the center.

“It’s a tremendous honor to have the support of aviation leaders like Boeing and Bombardier who continue Amelia’s enduring legacy of innovation and share our vision to inspire future generations in the pursuit of flight,” said Karen Seaberg, founder and president of the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation.

Grand Opening Celebration

The grand opening ceremony with a ribbon cutting is slated for Friday at noon CST in front of the museum. 

“The museum doors officially open immediately following the ceremony at 12:30 pm CST,” said Vanessa Bonavia, museum spokesperson, adding that they have invited some special guests, including members of Earhart’s extended family.

“We are expecting special guests, including Bram Kleppner, Amelia’s great-great nephew, and his young daughter, Amelia’s great-great niece,” Bonavia said. “We’ve received several RSVPs from members of The Ninety-Nines and Women in Aviation. Amelia Rose Earhart, the young pilot who circumnavigated the globe to honor Amelia’s legacy, will be attending. The colors will be presented by the Kansas Air National Guard. Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall will also share remarks, along with Atchison Mayor Lisa Moody.”

The festivities will continue through the weekend. On April 15, pilots from Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Flight Team will invite the public to tour its new Cirrus SR20 and Cessna 172 aircraft, and on April 16, the “RC Fly Jam” featuring radio-controlled planes will be on the museum grounds and tarmac.

Inside the Museum

The Museum is the home of the world’s last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E, named

Muriel after Earhart’s younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey. Muriel is identical to the plane Earhart flew on her final flight around the world. 

In addition to the aircraft, there are 14 interactive exhibit areas that allow visitors to trace Earhart’s life from growing up in Atchison, to her growing fame as an aviatrix.

Visitors will be able to enter a full-scale replica of Muriel’s cockpit to experience what it was like to be inside the aircraft described as Earhart’s “flying laboratory.”

There is a digitized version of Earhart’s mechanic logbook for review, and through the magic of augmented reality, visitors can try on Earhart’s various careers such as mechanic, nurse, pilot, and even a fashion designer.

Museum officials note each exhibit has been carefully outfitted to meet National Curriculum Standards, Kansas Curriculum Content Standards, and Missouri Standards of Learning. Professionally developed Teacher Guides to support field trips are also available.

There is a heavy aviation component that allows visitors to explore celestial navigation and learn about radio waves and the atmosphere, use 3D holograms to explore technological advances in aviation, pilot a virtual reality flight in a Lockheed Vega 5B across the Atlantic, retracing Earthart’s 1932 flight and finally, speculate and vote on theories about what happened to Earhart on her attempt to fly around the world.

History and STEM

Earhart has always been associated with aviation, setting multiple records as a pilot, including being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Many people are surprised to learn that she also had a background in the sciences. According to multiple biographies, she was particularly interested in chemistry, medicine, and mechanics. This makes it a natural fit for aerospace businesses to support the facility.

“Amelia’s courage and spirit of adventure will inspire the next generation of aviators, explorers, and innovators to continue breaking new boundaries in aerospace,” said Cheri Carter, vice president of Boeing Global Engagement.

Tonya Sudduth, head of U.S. strategy at Bombardier, added, “We are thrilled to support the new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum and believe it will have a great impact on the community through its innovative and educational exhibits—inspiring young people to explore the many exciting possibilities and future career paths available in aviation and aerospace.” 

In addition to the aerospace industry, a number of local and national philanthropic organizations are providing support for the museum, including the Donn Lux Family, the Guy Bromley Trust, the Patterson Family Foundation, the Regnier Family Foundation, the Fly With Amelia Foundation, the Stauffer Jambrosic Foundation, the Sunderland Foundation and the William T. Kemper Foundation, and local employers Amberwell Health, Benedictine College, MGP Ingredients and others.

Following the grand opening, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum will apply to become an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. 

The post Amelia Earhart’s Legacy Enshrined at New Kansas Museum appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

There is, however, one thing Boy Scouts are allowed to do that Girl Scouts are not: fly in small aircraft as part of an aviation badge.

In scouting, merit badges are created and approved by local councils, and earned by performing a series of tasks to learn new skills. The badges are displayed on the scout uniform on either a sash or vest. The Boy Scouts have aviation badges that include taking a flight in a small aircraft as a requirement.

The Girl Scout aviation badges are more academic, requiring the scout to do research, but no flying. This does not sit well with Autumn Pepper Rhodes, a Girl Scout Ambassador from the Gulf Coast of Florida. 

Rhodes, who earned her private pilot certificate at 17, has launched a campaign to persuade the Girl Scouts of America to change their no-fly policy. Rhodes drafted a petition as part of her Gold Award project, “Girls Who Soar.”

The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts. It is designed for girls in the ninth through 12th grades who are registered as Girl Scout Seniors or Ambassadors. The award is meant for girls who find meaningful ways to address issues facing their communities, and act on them, resulting in a change for the better.

According to Rhodes, “Girls Who Soar” is designed to “encourage, educate, and inspire girls in my community to pursue aviation,” Rhodes explains. “Less than 9 percent of the pilot population are women. I decided to become a pilot when I was 10 years old. I had my first discovery flight with Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 66 and immediately knew flight would be my future.”

Rhodes noted the gender disparity in scouting when she was 11 and her troop attended Aviation Discovery Day at the Sun ‘n Fun aerospace education campus in Lakeland, Florida. There were several Boy Scout troops in attendance and only one Girl Scout troop.

“One of the activities provided were free discovery flights in a small aircraft,” Rhoades recalls. “While there were multiple Boy Scouts lined up to fly without parents present, only the girls who had a parent onsite were eligible to fly, as flights in a small aircraft were not allowed per the Girl Scout safety checkpoints.” 

According to Rhodes, when she announced she wanted to be a pilot, some adults reacted with amusement. At the time, the Girl Scouts did not have any aviation merit badges, and this petition seeks to change that by establishing an Aviation Exploration badge for cadets, seniors, and ambassadors. To earn the badge, the girls must engage in hands-on activities to learn about aviation. One of these activities will be a short flight in a small aircraft, similar to the EAA’s Young Eagles flights, which provide aviation opportunities to children ages 8 to 17.

The petition is specific, calling for the implementation of a waiver for guardians of a Girl Scout over the age of 13 to sign, allowing the girls to participate and fly in the private aircraft for academic and educational purposes. The flight must be within 25 miles of the home airport with no stops along the route. The pilot must be over 21 years of age, have a current medical and at least a private pilot certificate, 500 logged flight hours, and be current to carry passengers. Background checks should be done on the volunteer pilots that choose to work with the Girl Scouts or through collaborative programs.

FLYING made multiple attempts to reach the media office for the Girl Scouts of America; however, our phone calls and emails were not returned by press time.

The Girl Scouts & Aviation

This is not the first time aviation has been introduced to the Girl Scouts.

In 1941 the GSA created the Wing Scout Program for older girls who were “interested in flying and wanting to learn enough about aviation to serve their country.” When the United States entered World War II, this program became more important, and many of the girls who participated went on to become members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

According to Rhodes, after the war it evolved into the Senior Wing Scout Fliers that allowed the girls to earn their pilot certificates.

“Though the program was phased out in the 1960s, there is no reason why a modernized version could not be revived with the current emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” says Rhodes.

Although the Wing Scout program was dissolved by the 1970s, aviation references were still part of scout culture. In the 1970s the ceremony where brownies, girls in the 1st through 3rd grade— transitioned to junior scouts was known as the “Flying Up ceremony.” The scouts who made the transition were given a pair of gold wings to display on their sash.

The post Petition Aims To Let Girl Scouts Fly appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Since 2007, Daher has sponsored interns at its facility in Tarbes, France, with the concept of exposing those involved to areas of specialty across the enterprise—as well as to the advantages of working for an international company in its global footprint. The experience typically culminates in a trip with the company to EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the summer.

“This opportunity is a one-of-a-kind experience for the next generation of aviation industry decision-makers, who will work side-by-side with our team in France to gain expertise in their selected fields,” said Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of Daher’s Aircraft Division.

Qualifying for the eight-week internship takes place via an application process that includes submission of a resume and cover letter, plus a 40-second video presentation made by the applicant attesting to both their motivation and the expectations they have in joining the program. 

Applications are due by March 20 at the GAMA-Daher Internship Experience site or via email: w.ferreira@daher.com.

“Internship applicants should be 18 to 24 years of age, with U.S. or Canadian citizenship, and enrolled as a full-time student pursuing an associate, undergraduate or graduate degree,” noted the release outlining the internship. “They will need to demonstrate an interest in an aeronautical career for engineering, flying, maintenance, manufacturing or marketing—among other areas.”

Anthony Garza, from San Antonio, Texas, was one of the pair of interns in 2022, and said the following about his experience during Daher’s media briefing last year at AirVenture. “I was very fortunate to be picked by Daher for this prestigious program. I think it’s a great opportunity to spend a month in France, at the Tarbes factory, to see the day-to-day of the TBMs work—it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us.”

At the same briefing, Lauren Meyer, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, added, “I cannot say enough kind words about this program. It was an amazing opportunity, and I met so many amazing people through it, and of course got to meet all of you here at Oshkosh, which is another great part of this program.”

“The very good news for these young, very talented people,” said Chabbert at the briefing, “is that now we have the opportunity for them to get employed in the U.S., and you can pick your place, in beautiful Idaho, or they can go to Florida, on aerostructures, they can work on the aircraft…or they can be employed in France if they wish.”

GAMA counts the international program as an important part of its workforce development initiatives in 2023.

“We are excited to partner with Daher, which builds two separate type certified turboprop aircraft in the U.S. and France, to offer this exciting opportunity for North American students to learn about the general aviation industry in France,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA’s president and CEO. “These internships provide students with an invaluable international experience that will further their knowledge of the incredible professional global opportunities in our robust industry.”

The post GAMA, Daher International Internship Aims to Build Aerospace Workforce appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The four-week STEM program, Flights of Discovery, will run from July 10 through August 3. The camp is the brainchild of education director Deborra Losch. She joined the museum just seven months ago and started the program from scratch. Rather than reinvent the proverbial wheel, Losch reached out to aviation organizations around the country that offer kids’ camps—such as those run by the Experimental Aircraft Association—to pick their brains. 

“I was not afraid to reach out to NASA, I reached out to Embry-Riddle, and even local places that hold summer camps, and I just asked, ‘How do you do it?’ And I worked with them to learn,” she said. “And it’s very hard work.” 

“I’m still working on it every day, but everything I needed to put together to get it out there and get it started—the curriculum outlines, activities, all the registration material and marketing—was all done in the last six months,” Losch added. 

The museum is encouraging kids to commit to the full four-week program because everything they learn leads up to the end, which culminates in one activity. They learn how to navigate, talk with the tower, learn about flight instruments, and use the simulator to learn basic flight principles. “And in the end, they fly their own course while taking to the tower, getting the weather from the meteorologists—who are also students.”

The students will be divided into small groups, called sections or units, which will be focusing on different learning units at different stages throughout the program. “In each unit, we have exercises where all the students get a chance to learn to, for example, take weather information and read it back in aviation terminology. So they learn how to take meteorology and turn it into a form pilots can use, like they do in an air traffic control center.”

“I’m working with the Nashua Boston Air Traffic Control—I’m basically bothering them all the time,” Losch said with a chuckle, “and we have some air traffic controllers who actually volunteer here who will help kids learn how to communicate with the tower.” 

• READ MORE: Arkansas’ Valley Airport: Like a Summer Camp for Adults

Student groups will swap roles during the culminating event, so each kid gets to experience each role. Middle school student curriculum will be centered on more hands-on activities and learning modules, and high school students will have the opportunity to learn about aviation career opportunities in addition to hands-on projects. And a volunteer will deliver pizza by helicopter at the end of the program. 

Losch and the museum raised funds to subsidize kids from low-income families so that cost would not be a barrier for participation in the camp. Losch said she grew up poor, and is committed to helping youth find opportunities and resources to follow their aviation dreams, regardless of their backgrounds. 

“When I was a kid, I always wanted to go to aviation summer camp,” she recalled, “because I’ve been obsessed with aviation since I was a kid. And the problem was, I couldn’t afford it. So I wanted to create my very own summer camp that all kids would have access to.” She told her story at the annual gala and asked for donations; she raised over $8,000. 

As of now, Losch doesn’t expect to be able to offer discovery flights to kids, though they will have an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be at the controls in the simulator. “Unless we can get [pilots] to sponsor us by giving our time, at the time being, [flying] is not an option.”

“The museum likes to say that aviation doesn’t just belong in a museum. It belongs in the future,” Losch said. “So they hired me to do outreach, help get more kids interested in aviation, to create that next generation of aviators.”

The four-week day camp will run from Monday, July 10, through Thursday, August 3. For information and to register, visit www.aviationmuseumofnh.org.

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