WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Students from Westfield and Southwick learned all about flying at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.
It’s part of Wright Flight, a 12-week program that introduces students to science, technology, engineering, and math to prepare them for careers in the future.
“Aviation career opportunities are immense right now. Aviation is a great industry to be in,” said Mike Gutowski, president of Western Massachusetts Wright Flight.
Students toured the control tower, checked out a Life Star helicopter, and used the flight simulator.
“They were funny,” said Jessica Armstrong, a 7th grader at St. Mary’s. “My friend Reese landed not on the runway and I flew through a tree.”
Then, students got to show off their skills, and go up in the air with an instructor to fly a real plane.
One 7th grader from St. Mary’s said it was nerve-wracking flying a plane, but he hopes to get used to it one day.
“I would love to be a commercial pilot,” said Grant Labrie. “That would be awesome.”
Another student told 22News although she wants to become a lawyer one day, she will need to be able to fly a plane, too.
“I want to have my own private jet, so I’m going to need to know how to fly it,” added Reese Gibson.