Oklahoma Wing Cadets Learn Cross-country Flight Navigation
(L-R) Cadet Airman Ethan Huber, Cadet Basic Wyatt Barnett and Cadet Airman First Class Adam Stafford mapping flight trajectory from Riverside Airport. (Photo: 1st Lt. Tamara Shannon, CAP)
by Capt. Brandon Lunsford Sr., CAP, Oklahoma Wing
JENKS, Okla. – On March 9, 2020, cadets underwent training for cross-country navigation. The training helps to prepare cadets and other youth for flight planning before any orientation flight or further flight experience. The training took place at Tulsa Technology Center’s Riverside Campus.
“The training went very well,” said 1st Lt. Tamara Shannon, the unit’s Aerospace Education Officer. “Since November of last year our unit has logged over 40 cadet orientation flights and many more backseat flights. This training provided them with additional knowledge for future flight planning. They were able to see that there is more to flying than just getting into an airplane and taking off.”
Jenks cadets working as a group to map flight trajectory from Riverside Airport. (Photo: 1st Lt. Tamara Shannon, CAP)
“This training was really fun,” stated Cadet Lt. Col. Bailey Lunsford. “I love flying and I am glad to see that passion forming in our newer cadets.” Lunsford attended Civil Air Patrol’s Southwest Region Powered Flight Academy in June 2019, logging 14 total hours toward her private pilot’s certificate. “The cadets enjoyed the planning aspect to flight,” Lunsford continued. “I enjoyed seeing them engaged in this activity.”
While working to obtain a private pilot certificate, cadets and students will become familiar with airplane performance, effects of weather, basic VFR sectional charts, chart symbols and aircraft cruise performance. The STEM kit provided hands-on training for cadets to enhance their understanding of flight preparation.
Cadet Basic Xavier Harrelson working with his group to map flight trajectory from Riverside Airport. (Photo: 1st Lt. Tamara Shannon, CAP)
The STEM kit (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), provided by Civil Air Patrol’s (CAP) National Headquarters, is just one of many available to local units and school systems for training. CAP’s STEM Kit program provides resources for hands-on, inquiry-based learning. The program has been providing a selection of STEM Kits to CAP Unit Aerospace Education Officers and CAP educator members since Jan. 23, 2013, to educate the next generation STEM workforce.
For information on CAPs educator program visit capmembers.com/ae.
Follow the adventures of Jenks Riverside Flight at Facebook.com/RiversideOK.CAP.
Find an Oklahoma Civil Air Patrol unit near you here:
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Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of more than 80 lives annually. CAP’s 66,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. In addition, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to over 28,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com or www.CAP.news for more information.
