Auburn University will host two weeks of summer aviation camps in Alabama for high school students grades nine through 12; activities include stick time in cockpits, full-motion simulators, and drones.
Campers learn about careers in aviation, engineering, unmanned aircraft operations, airport management, air traffic control, and corporate aviation. They’ll also experience campus life in Auburn’s dormitories, eat at campus dining facilities, and participate in evening social and recreational activities.
Auburn student Ian Lennox, who is working on his instrument rating and commercial certificate, said summer campers will be immersed in aviation during their stay on the campus quadrangle. He said meeting and greeting professionals in the commercial aviation industry will be a bonus for high school students.
“They also get to shoot off rockets, fly in our Cessna 172s, and take a bus trip to Atlanta where they fly in full-motion simulators,” Lennox added.
Fellow pilot and Auburn Striped Wings aviation ambassador Josh Melton, who is also working on his instrument rating and commercial certificate, said the university’s unmanned pilot program is especially popular among young people who are comfortable with computer gaming. Melton, however, said he found drone flying to be a challenge: “I have about six hours of flight time on the drone and I’m not very good at it, but I am working on it.”
Auburn University started its aviation education programs in 1941, and the Auburn University Regional Airport is home to the nationally ranked War Eagle Flying Team. The university’s FAA-approved Part 41 school and its Envoy pilot pipeline program help students develop career paths to regional airlines and the aerospace industry.
The camps run from June 5 to 10 and July 10 to 15. Instruction, housing, meals, transportation fees, and recreational activities are all covered in the $750 fee to attend.
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