How aviation students at the CTE Academy are flying into career options, flight practice

It’s rare high schoolers find joy in small talk, especially about the weather, but it’s all the rage in Laureen Mehlert’s class.

At the start of each block of her classes at the Career & Technical Education Academy, Mehlert and her students dig into the current weather conditions, cloud cover, wind speeds and more.

They need to be experts because they’re in aviation class. Knowing the conditions outside helps students build a weather log that determines flying conditions and is important to their future careers as pilots, or in another job within the aviation industry.

Aviation training can lead to a piloting career or just a new hobby

Career options branching from CTE’s aviation courses include becoming a pilot for fun; or, for airlines or corporate, flying regionally, cross-country or internationally; air-medical by plane or helicopter; or, a variety of military pilot options. The options also include becoming an air traffic controller, ground crew member, flight attendant, airport manager, dispatcher, meteorologist or more, Mehlert said.

More: Aviation enthusiasts of all ages enjoy hands-on learning at Discover Aviation Day

Aviation I gives an overview of flight with the four forces: lift, drag, gravity and thrust. The first course also covers flight history, weather, charts and navigation, rockets, space, hot air balloons and projects with balsa wood aircraft and paper planes.

Aviation II hits the four forces of flight harder and digs in deep on how aircraft get up in the air, and also covers weight, balance, aircraft systems, parts and pieces, engine types, hydraulics, electrical systems and control systems.

Aviation III covers weather, airports and communication, air traffic control, airport signage and a section where students get to design their own airports. They can make replicas of real-life airports or invent a new one.

Mehlert also makes sure to include field trips and activities like visiting local air traffic control towers, airport authority, Maverick air center and more. She also invites guest speakers into the classroom who can speak about their experience in the industry.

Mehlert’s students also learn directly from certified flight instructor (CFI) interns from South Dakota State University who oversee their testing and training hours on three Reconfigurable Training Device Frasca flight simulators, which are an industry standard for training and help the students earn flight hours sooner.

The Frascas were paid for by a $249,081 innovative equipment grant announced by the South Dakota Department of Education late last year and were introduced to classrooms and to the public by May, when students showed off what they learned to sponsors of the program, press and members of the public.

More: USD, SDSU foundations spend thousands on airplane use for donors, university officials

Earning a private pilot's license

With the training in Mehlert’s class as overseen by the CFIs, students can gain the flight practice hours necessary to work towards earning their private pilot’s license.

That’s what Carson Eggert, a senior from Baltic High School in Mehlert’s Aviation III course at the CTE Academy, is working on right now. He said he was interested in flying after attending the air show in 2016 and started Mehlert’s class last year.

Eggert is working on his cross country and night flying right now and has his final test for his private pilot’s license at the end of October. To practice flying, he rents a Piper PA-28 Warrior at Legacy Aviation in Tea. He said he likes Mehlert’s class because it allows him to train on flight simulators that not many other programs have.

His CTE classmate Garrett Boltjes, a senior at Lincoln High School, said ever since he went on his first commercial flight as a passenger from Sioux Falls to Las Vegas several years ago, he’s been “hooked ever since.” Boltjes said he wants to go into airport management in the future.

“I really enjoyed the way it felt the first time taking off,” he said. “This class broadened my view of the aviation industry.”

Industry and postsecondary partners for the simulators include SDSU, Lake Area Technical College, the South Dakota National Guard, the South Dakota Air National Guard, Civil Air Patrol, Legacy Aviation and Iowa Lakes Community College, according to a press release from the SDDOE.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota students get hours of practice on flight simulators