EXPERT COLUMN
in the afternoons next school year to take the more advanced curriculum : fundamentals of aerospace , flight ops one , flight ops two , and , finally , unmanned aircraft systems .
The afternoon class had just finished the complicated task of creating their own airline . “ The students need to know how an airline works ,” Dubee said . “ They need to know everything that happens behind the scenes to get those planes into the sky . So , I had them build an airline from scratch . They had to figure out budgets , determine routes , decide on aircraft types , figure in maintenance and training — the whole bit .
“ It really gets them understanding about everything involved in the industry .”
TEST TIME
Next up in the morning was a 14-question quiz on flight ops systems , with questions taken from the pool used for the FAA Private Pilot exam . It was aimed at checking the students ’ knowledge of the information that every Pilot should master . The angular difference between true north and magnetic north is called what ? What is an important airspeed limitation that is not color-coded on airspeed indicators ? Deviation in a magnetic compass is caused by what ? The aim , again , is to prepare students to pass the FAA Private Pilot exam at the end of their second year .
When quiz time was up , the students , who sat two by two at their desks as Captain and First Officer , reviewed each question , with Dubee fleshing out the discussion with a thorough explanation of the answers .
Camilla Carter was a freshman who came from an aviation family . She didn ’ t have any signed-off hours , but she had been flying with her dad in their Cessna 172 for years . “ It ’ s so much fun here to learn the background of what ’ s actually happening . I know what to do in the cockpit , but learning how the aircraft works and what ’ s really going on underneath helps you to fly .”
Carter was aiming to get her PPL after turning 16 and to eventually go into corporate flying to build up hours and then move on to the airlines . However , she already understood the
18 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE JUNE 2024 www . airwaysmag . com