OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is giving 41 middle school students from all over the country a chance to chase their dreams and watch them soar, during its annual Air Academy.
The participants get the chance to design and build model aircraft and spend time in flight simulators, but they also get to fly.
Cameron Alley briefly got to take control of an airplane with the help of a flight instructor, which he said was like a roller coaster.
Alley said he's always loved flying, and one day hopes to pilot stealth fighters for the Air Force. He says he's really valued the time he's had at the camp.
"We've done a lot of stuff, learned a lot," Alley said. "We've built airfoils and wing ribs, we were working on rockets right before I took my flight. [A] lot of great people, [a] lot of great kids, [the] counselors are great, it's a really fun camp," he continued.
Mikaila Gillis is one of the camp's instructors, who once attended one of EAA's camps as a teen herself, which jump-started her love of flying.
"I didn't know I wanted to be a pilot or in the aviation industry until I was about 17 and I was given a [chance] to come here," Gillis said. "It totally changed my course of what I wanted to do in the future. Coming to Air Academy is a really good start for children to kind of get their feet wet as to what aviation can be like."
Alexis Wollum is a counselor at the camp and says she's been happy to see children of all different experience levels get excited about flight.
“We had one that actually passed his written exam on Friday," Wollum said. "So he’ll be starting his flight training soon. And then we have some that don’t have any experience at all and their minds are just blown by the program here."
Gillis says she's happy to pass a love of flying on to the next generation.
“I’m the lucky person who gets to fly them in the airplane, and for some of these kids it’s their very first time in the airplane," said Gillis. "It’s priceless to see their smile after their first joy ride. People say the sky’s limit, but realistically there’s no limit once you’re up there.”
The camp is set to run through Friday, June 23, but EAA will have similar camps for other age groups later in the summer.
