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PITTSBURG —
If you’re a member of an organization called the Civil Air Patrol, you ought to be at least somewhat familiar with aircraft, right?
Civil Air Patrol officials certainly think so, and this weekend and last weekend members of KS802 Southeast Kansas Composite Squadron of the United States Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol in Cherokee have been getting a taste for what it’s like to be a pilot. The Air Force usually sends one of its Cessna 182 planes down every so often to give cadets some air time — as CAP members, the Air Force will pay for five hours of flight time in which they actually pilot the plane while in the air — said Maj. Glenn Fortmayer, who is Cherokee USD 247’s superintendent as well as the squadron’s commander. But Fortmayer’s unit has grown to be the biggest squadron in Kansas and the sixth largest in the United States, and the Air Force kicked in some extra cash to help its members get some flight time.
On Friday, CAP Capt. Erik Nystrom, who is stationed at Fort Riley, and Senior member Byron Price, of Lenexa, flew into Pittsburg in their Cessnas to mentor some of the young cadets. The CAP uses the Cessnas because of their reliability, Fortmayer said. The wings are situated above the cockpit so observers can survey disaster or rescue sites below, and the plane is able to glide for up to three miles if the engine fails, so the threat of crashing is reduced to almost zero.
Price, who was a corporate pilot and flight instructor, said he learned about the CAP 50 years ago.
“I was just a little slow in joining,” he grinned.
Nystrom, who is on active duty in the United States Army and is set to deploy to Afghanistan, said he learned about it in 2003.
“I’m finally at a point in my life where I could do this,” he said.
The CAP has three primary missions in which students — called cadets — and adults can participate: Emergency services, in which they learn search and rescue and crisis response tactics; Cadet programs, which features courses in leadership, character development, career exploration and community service; and Aerospace education, with courses in civil and military flying, weather, current events, history and rocketry.
As the cadets go through increasingly difficult lessons, they get to do more with the planes. For instance, after their first lesson, the pilots let them take the stick once they’re above 1,000 feet. Then they get to take off, and eventually will stall the plane, let it go into freefall and restart the engine — all with an approved pilot on board, of course. Some of Fortmayer’s cadets will soon go to Hutchinson for six days to participate in the Sunflower glider program.
If you’re a member of an organization called the Civil Air Patrol, you ought to be at least somewhat familiar with aircraft, right?
Civil Air Patrol officials certainly think so, and this weekend and last weekend members of KS802 Southeast Kansas Composite Squadron of the United States Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol in Cherokee have been getting a taste for what it’s like to be a pilot. The Air Force usually sends one of its Cessna 182 planes down every so often to give cadets some air time — as CAP members, the Air Force will pay for five hours of flight time in which they actually pilot the plane while in the air — said Maj. Glenn Fortmayer, who is Cherokee USD 247’s superintendent as well as the squadron’s commander. But Fortmayer’s unit has grown to be the biggest squadron in Kansas and the sixth largest in the United States, and the Air Force kicked in some extra cash to help its members get some flight time.
On Friday, CAP Capt. Erik Nystrom, who is stationed at Fort Riley, and Senior member Byron Price, of Lenexa, flew into Pittsburg in their Cessnas to mentor some of the young cadets. The CAP uses the Cessnas because of their reliability, Fortmayer said. The wings are situated above the cockpit so observers can survey disaster or rescue sites below, and the plane is able to glide for up to three miles if the engine fails, so the threat of crashing is reduced to almost zero.
Price, who was a corporate pilot and flight instructor, said he learned about the CAP 50 years ago.
“I was just a little slow in joining,” he grinned.
Nystrom, who is on active duty in the United States Army and is set to deploy to Afghanistan, said he learned about it in 2003.
“I’m finally at a point in my life where I could do this,” he said.
The CAP has three primary missions in which students — called cadets — and adults can participate: Emergency services, in which they learn search and rescue and crisis response tactics; Cadet programs, which features courses in leadership, character development, career exploration and community service; and Aerospace education, with courses in civil and military flying, weather, current events, history and rocketry.
As the cadets go through increasingly difficult lessons, they get to do more with the planes. For instance, after their first lesson, the pilots let them take the stick once they’re above 1,000 feet. Then they get to take off, and eventually will stall the plane, let it go into freefall and restart the engine — all with an approved pilot on board, of course. Some of Fortmayer’s cadets will soon go to Hutchinson for six days to participate in the Sunflower glider program.
“It’s pretty exciting for these kids,” Fortmayer said.
Cadet Airman Virginia Smith, 16, of Pittsburg, agreed.
“I love it!” Smith said, beaming in her Air Force BDU’s while waiting to board the plane. “I want to go into the Air Force when I’m older, and this seems like a better way to transition in. It gets harder, so I can get my training here.”
Smith is a humble kid and not one to brag, but a sort of excited grin plastered itself across her face the entire time she explained why she likes the CAP and flying in general.
“I’m a bit of a thrill junkie,” she said. “I like to do fun things. I want to go skydiving. I’m up for just about anything. Just being up in the air, it seems like there’s something about it that’s more fun than being on the ground. It’s peaceful.”
Smith said the CAP, and the chance to help people, adds extra meaning to her life.
“It means time,” she said. “I’m at meetings every Tuesday, and I get to meet other cadets from around the state at the wing meetings. I love to be of service.”
Cadet Airman Leslie Jones, 13, of Weir, said she like the search and rescue — SAR in CAP parlance — aspect.
“It’s really cool being in the Civil Air Patrol,” she said, adding that flying was pretty fun, too. “It was the coolest thing to look our at the ground and see the tiny people and things.”
Weir resident Brenda Engelman said she’s proud of her son, Thor, 16, who got to pilot the plane from take off Friday
“Isn’t that amazing?” she said. “He’s only had a driver’s license for two years.”
