WESTFIELD — Abigail Smith is too young to drive a car, but not too young to co-pilot a small plane. She and 26 other Agawam Junior High School seventh and eighth graders did just that recently following the successful completion of a 12-week afterschool aviation program.

After taking several tests to assess what they learned, students were ready to take off from Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport co-piloting a single-engine Cessna 172 or a Piper Pilot 100i with a certified instructor.

“It seemed just like one minute you’re standing on the ground and the next you’re up in the air around 1,000 feet up — it’s like nothing else like you can imagine,” said Smith as she recalled her flight.

“Every bump is just the wind tossing you about, which feels insane. It’s amazing,” said her eighth grade classmate, Owen Elwell. He and Smith were among the first group of students to take to the air in late April. The second half of the class flew May 24.

Mitchell Haglund, a seventh grader, was in the group that flew in May. He said he was a bit nervous at first, but he was more comfortable once he was in the air.

“It was really exciting when the plane took off from the runway and the ground began disappearing. Takeoff was smooth, but touchdown as a little bumpy,” he said.

Haglund and the other students took a short flight from Barnes with a volunteer pilot and flew directly over Agawam, their school and their homes. While that flight marks the end of the course, it’s not the end goal.

“Teaching kids to be a pilot is a great goal, but the point of this course is to show kids there’s a career path in the aviation industry,” said AJHS Principal Norm Robbins. “There are many different fingers and different veins and avenues students can go into within this industry.”

Jon Elwell, Owen’s father and a seventh grade technology and engineering teacher who assists with the school’s aviation program, said that while waiting to take the first flights at Barnes, several aviators mentioned that Delta, Continental and other commercial airlines are struggling to find pilots.

“The airlines getting to the point where pilots in the upper levels can get paid almost as much as doctors — or even sometimes more. So it’s just kind of a neat process to get the kids excited about aviation jobs,” said Elwell.

Volunteers from Barnes-based Western Massachusetts Wright Flight, an aviation science course named after flying pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright, partnered with the school to run the program. The non-profit Wright Flight, which relies on donations and volunteers, is run by the Barnes Airport Support Group. whose instructors are volunteers with aviation experience.

AJHS started the program about four years ago to introduce students to the world of aviation, but it had been in hiatus for a couple of years because of the coronavirus pandemic. Wright Flight’s Aviation I is for middle and junior high school students in Western Massachusetts. A program for high schools — Aviation II — is not yet available at AHS.

The course fee is $190, which covers all materials, field trips and flight time at the end. Robbins said the fee might seem high, but the actual student cost could be much more, since the airplane rental fee alone is about $130 per hour.

“It’s a financial commitment, for sure,” he said, “but Wright Flight also offers scholarship opportunities just so we don’t have to turn any students away.”

The course encompassed aviation history, principles of flight, flight simulation, career opportunities and field trips. Students learned about aerodynamic principles, including the four forces of flight — weight, thrust, lift and drag. Classroom instruction also covered the significance of aviation in the development of technology, its global impact and the importance of developing and understanding science, technology, engineering and math.

How to communicate with and follow instructions from the control tower are two other important components covered. One class was devoted to learning about transceivers, VHF radio, using the radio, the phonetic alphabet, flight radar and transponder codes.

Two classes focused on using a flight simulator for a Cessna 172 or similar airplane. Students learned to identify the functions of the plane’s “six pack,” the cluster of three gauges on top, three below, that provide basic flight information. They practiced flying straight and level, making turns, climbs, slow flight, takeoffs, and making airport approaches and landings.

On a class trip to the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.’s maintenance facility at Barnes, students were given a tour that gave them more insight into the aviation industry.

“This was phenomenal. Students not only saw how much it costs to maintain a plane, to fly a plane and to own a plane, but also the various engineers, businesses and industries involved with working on small jets the company makes,” said Robbins.

Students also visited a local precision manufacturing company to learn about manufacturing, engineering, aviation maintenance careers, and the benefits of a technical education. They also visited the air traffic control tower at Barnes to learn about another potential aviation-related career.

A day-long field trip to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, gave students a close-up tour of historical aircraft. Following the tour and a talk by the museum’s director of education, students conducted experiments with balsawood airplanes.

In one experiment they tested their knowledge of airfoil shapes and energy using a rubber-band-powered propeller. This helped them determine which wing shapes and power combinations are the fastest and most efficient, as well as the effect on the lift of a powered glider.

After their flights, students received a certificate and a special Wright Flight History T-shirt available only to the course’s graduates.