Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum holds summer camp
School aged kids are soaring to new heights and gaining incredible hands-on experiences at the Aviation Summer Camp.
The Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum is currently hosting summer camps for school-aged children. Executive Director Francisco Gonzalez said, “Our hands on camps makes you feel like ‘wow you’re a part of something else’ and we’re giving inspiration for life, inspiration to perhaps look at a career in aviation.”
Throughout the two-week experience, campers will go through seven different sessions pertaining to aviation. The sessions include topics like robotics, aerodynamics, 3D printing, motion flight, how to fly drones, and much more. Camp Instructor Ron Balius said, “This is basic stuff that we’re teaching them how aluminum, how to put an aircraft together, how it flies, and all these classes at the summer camp teach a little bit, a little portion of aviation to everything engines, airplanes, sheet metal, welding, all of that.”
The campers even have the opportunity to restore and rebuild items that will be later showcased at the museum. Camp Instructor Larry Tucei said, “This is an experimental helicopter that was brought here and donated about a year ago and we’re going to try to put it back together using the kids, this camp and the second camp, and eventually this aircraft will be up front of the building on display.”
Not only do kids get to fly in a motion flight simulator across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they’re also learning life lessons that’ll take them far in life.
Education Director Todd Young provides insight to the campers that life is very similar to the four forces of flight, which are lift and thrust, and then weight and drag. “Lift and thrust are the positive ones, weight and drag are the negative ones, so I tell the kids it’s just like life. If you surround yourself with positivity and positive people that are going to be encouraging you, you’re going to go up in the air just like an airplane flying right up in life, alright. If you surround yourself with negative people, well those are the big bullies in life and they’ll pull you down.”
The last two-week summer camp will take place July 10th through the 19th for sixth through eighth graders. For more information on how to register, visit msaviationmuseum.org and click 2023 summer camp.
