Aviation class now an option for CHS students
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At left, Cassville Industrial Technology instructor, Marcus Reynolds, introduced an aviation class to high school students, the first in the school’s history.
In the background, student Peter Littlefield prepares to take off, while operating the controls of the classroom’s flight simulator. Photo by Chuck Nickle. |
September 29, 2021
Sheila Harris
A pending shortage of commercial pilots prompted Cassville Industrial Technology teacher, Marcus Reynolds, to add a course in aviation to his classroom itinerary. It’s the first in the school’s history.
Reynolds, whose father worked for the Federal Aviation Administration during his growing-up years, is no stranger to aircraft. Although a childhood diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes grounded him from becoming a pilot, with his father’s encouragement, he pursued a degree in Aviation Technology followed by a full-time career as an Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certified airplane mechanic.
For Reynolds, though, an interest in teaching usurped his full-time maintenance position, and he went back to school for first Art, then Industrial Technology Education degrees. This school year marks his seventh as a teacher with the Cassville district.
“I presented the idea for an aviation class to administration about three years ago,” he said, “but it didn’t float. This year, it did.”
Of the 14 students currently enrolled in the class, only three have ever flown in an airplane. Those three express interest in a future career as a pilot.
According to Reynolds, attaining a pilot certificate costs quite a bit of money, typically around $12,000, he says, by the time the cost of flight instruction, plane rental and fuel needed for the required number of flight hours is calculated.
“My hope with this aviation class is to cut that price tag in half for prospective aviators,” he said.
The class uses a curriculum developed by Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and Cassville, according to Reynolds, is only one of four schools in Missouri taking advantage of it.
“The course,” Reynolds said, “is designed to be a four-year program for high school students, beginning with a student’s freshman year and continuing through his or her senior year.”
Because this is the first year the class is being taught at Cassville, all 14 students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) are beginning with the sophomore curriculum.
“Fundamentally,” Reynolds tells his 5th-hour students, “you need to be able to learn aviation lingo, which includes the different types of aircraft and their parts. If someone over the radio is directing you to follow or stay away from a certain type of aircraft - a tail-dragger, for example - you’d better know what he’s talking about.”
In addition to “ground instruction,” the aviation class makes use of a 3-D printer to design model airplanes.
The classroom also houses two flight simulators: one, an elaborate three-screen computer with an aircraft control-panel for practicing take-offs, landings and flight in between. The second simulator is a child-sized replica of an airplane, which Reynolds uses to teach students the different parts and their functions.
As for actual flight itself, Reynolds is working on some ideas for exposing students to real airplanes and perhaps even after-school flight, with parental permission.
Sheila Harris
A pending shortage of commercial pilots prompted Cassville Industrial Technology teacher, Marcus Reynolds, to add a course in aviation to his classroom itinerary. It’s the first in the school’s history.
Reynolds, whose father worked for the Federal Aviation Administration during his growing-up years, is no stranger to aircraft. Although a childhood diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes grounded him from becoming a pilot, with his father’s encouragement, he pursued a degree in Aviation Technology followed by a full-time career as an Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certified airplane mechanic.
For Reynolds, though, an interest in teaching usurped his full-time maintenance position, and he went back to school for first Art, then Industrial Technology Education degrees. This school year marks his seventh as a teacher with the Cassville district.
“I presented the idea for an aviation class to administration about three years ago,” he said, “but it didn’t float. This year, it did.”
Of the 14 students currently enrolled in the class, only three have ever flown in an airplane. Those three express interest in a future career as a pilot.
According to Reynolds, attaining a pilot certificate costs quite a bit of money, typically around $12,000, he says, by the time the cost of flight instruction, plane rental and fuel needed for the required number of flight hours is calculated.
“My hope with this aviation class is to cut that price tag in half for prospective aviators,” he said.
The class uses a curriculum developed by Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and Cassville, according to Reynolds, is only one of four schools in Missouri taking advantage of it.
“The course,” Reynolds said, “is designed to be a four-year program for high school students, beginning with a student’s freshman year and continuing through his or her senior year.”
Because this is the first year the class is being taught at Cassville, all 14 students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) are beginning with the sophomore curriculum.
“Fundamentally,” Reynolds tells his 5th-hour students, “you need to be able to learn aviation lingo, which includes the different types of aircraft and their parts. If someone over the radio is directing you to follow or stay away from a certain type of aircraft - a tail-dragger, for example - you’d better know what he’s talking about.”
In addition to “ground instruction,” the aviation class makes use of a 3-D printer to design model airplanes.
The classroom also houses two flight simulators: one, an elaborate three-screen computer with an aircraft control-panel for practicing take-offs, landings and flight in between. The second simulator is a child-sized replica of an airplane, which Reynolds uses to teach students the different parts and their functions.
As for actual flight itself, Reynolds is working on some ideas for exposing students to real airplanes and perhaps even after-school flight, with parental permission.
