BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) — Around 40 kids from across Kentucky, Tennessee, and other states have come to Bowling Green this week for Aviation Summer Camp at the Bowling Green/Warren County Regional Airport.
These campers are between 10 and 16-years-old, and Tuesday and Wednesday, they’re learning about all things aviation.
One of the main activities planned for campers is giving them the opportunity to fly a plane with a certified flight instructor.
“It’s like a once in a lifetime chance,” said Ellie Barnett, a camper.
“To see them actually land after their first flight in a Cessna 172 is an amazing feeling of accomplishment for the child, and an amazing feeling of satisfaction for us here at the airport to provide them that opportunity to bring Aviation Summer Camp to Bowling Green,” said airport manager, Rob Barnett.
“It’s a two day camp, it’s really awesome. You get to interact with other people and do a lot of other stuff that deals with planes and you get to learn about pilots and everything like that,” added Ellie.
But this camp is much more than just a flight over Warren County, as cool as that may be.
“For two days they learn about aerodynamics, they learn about weather, they learn about physics, they learn about navigation, they learn about all of the instruments associated with flying an airplane,” said Barnett.
Tuesday’s camp experience even included a live-feed from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
Barnett said, “I think the children were amazed to see a live astronaut communicating from such a far distance away to Bowling Green, Kentucky and Aviation Summer Camp, so what a great opportunity.”
With this annual camp the hope is to teach kids about all the opportunities available in the aviation world.
“They too can become a pilot, they can work at the airport, they can become an airport manager, they can be an airport engineer, they can be a scientist, they can be an astrophysicist, they can be anything they want to be in the field of aviation,” said Barnett.
And it seems like it’s paying off.
“It’s a hobby. I’d like to get a private pilot’s license,” said camper, Kayla Harmon.
“I would like to be a pilot maybe,” added Ellie.
The camp runs through Wednesday afternoon in Bowling Green.
http://www.wbko.com/content/news/Campers-take-flight-at-Aviation-Summer-Camp-487826861.html