By Maj Tom Pflug
Burke High School Students visit the OCS aircraft hangars at Millard Airport.
Over 40 Omaha Burke High School aviation students visited Millard Airport recently to inspect two CAP aircraft. Lt Col Robert McCartney, 1st Lt Eric Perquin, and Major Tom Pflug of the Omaha Composite Squadron hosted the tour.
Following up on recent classroom lessons, the students participated in “pre-flight inspections” of the CAP Cessna 182 airplanes guided by Lt Col McCartney and Lt Perquin. Everyone had a chance to move ailerons, sump fuel, and manipulate flight controls. Lt Col McCartney further enhanced the
students’ experience with anecdotes from his years in the USAF while Lt Perquin demonstrated the
capabilities of the G1000 “glass
Students sump fuel from the airplane’s tanks as part of the pre-flight procedures.
cockpit” flight instrumentation and navigational system. For many of the visitors, this was their first chance to get close to a real airplane. LeeAnn Vaughan, the aviation science instructor at Burke, expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to enrich her students’ classroom experiences with time in and around operational airplanes.
Omaha Composite Squadron is providing ongoing support to the Burke High School aviation program and its efforts to establish a school squadron as a permanent feature of Burke’s aviation and space academy.
LtCol McCartney extends his famous handshake to an unsuspecting student.
Omaha Composite’s C/Lt Col Christopher Pineda is serving as a liaison and de facto cadet commander of the Burke unit as it takes its first steps toward a formal CAP charter. (Photos courtesy of LeeAnn Vaughan.)
Students were given the opportunity to sit and learn about the aircraft used in real-world Civil Air Patrol Missions.
A simulated airport environment at Burke High School.
