Airport trip opens Westfield pupils’ eyes to aviation business

June 8, 2022 | Mike Lydick
mlydick@thereminder.com

Zachary Fedora, a student in Westfield Technical Academy’s aviation program, talks with sixth graders from Westfield Intermediate School while standing beside a Learjet his school is restoring that was once used by NASA.
Reminder Publishing photo by Mike Lydick

WESTFIELD — More than 300 sixth-grade students from Westfield Intermediate School took the short but “exhilarating” trip on May 19 or 20 from Southampton Road to Airport Road.

Half the class visited Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport one morning and the remainder went to the airport the following morning. During their more than two-hour tour, students visited a maintenance hangar, sat in the cockpit of a training plane, looked at several parked aircraft and used a flight simulator.

“I’ve never flown a plane before, so the flight simulator was really cool,” said Gracyn Salls. “Going up was pretty easy. But when I tried to land, I missed the runway and came down in a field.”

Chloe Camilleri called her flight simulator experience “breathtaking.” She said it actually felt like she was flying a plane.

“I loved the simulator,” added Raya Graham.

Danny Casineau called the tour one of his best learning experiences.

“I like to know how things work, so it was great to talk with people about flying and planes,” he said.

Students also heard from several industry professionals, including an aerospace engineer, a pilot, an aircraft mechanic and an air traffic controller, during brief presentations regarding career opportunities.

Matt Wroth, a grade 6 teacher at the school, said the goal of the trip was to show students the job and career opportunities available them in the aerospace industry.

“The visit exposed students to different aircraft and operations at the airport,” said Wroth. Usually an annual class trip, this was the first time in two years that the sixth graders visited the airport because of the coronavirus pandemic. For the past two years, it was done virtually.

The tour was organized in conjunction with the Adopt-a-Classroom program of the Westfield Education to Business Alliance (WE2BA). The program allows local businesses to share their work environment with students and show them the types of jobs available in the Westfield area.

Airport Manager Chris Willenborg talked about his duties overseeing airport operations, then showed students two videos about the airport, which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year.

Graham said she found Willenborg’s presentation and the videos very informative.

“I learned about the work it takes to cut the grass around the runways — which are two miles long — and why it’s so critical to keep them clear of even a little bit of snow so planes don’t slide off,” she said.
Salls added that she was surprised when she heard the airport manager tell students that even a small pebble on the runway could cause major damage to a plane’s engine: “I never knew that could happen.”

Added Camilleri, “We learned how far you can travel with one tank of gas, the history of Barnes, and how structures of airplanes are built.”

Casineau, who considers himself an airplane “geek,” said he got to see up close what students in the aviation program at Westfield Technical Academy (WTA) do in their working hangar classroom at Barnes. He talked to WTA student Rylie Nimchick about the engine in a Piper Cherokee. She told him that engines in small planes are about the same size as ones in cars, but don’t have as much power.

“The engines don’t need as much power because the planes are much lighter,” Casineau explained.
Griffin Kuhn was impressed with the many people who volunteered their time to show the students around the airport.

“The high-schoolers from WTA were just as eye-opening to learn from as the experienced staff,” he said.

Michael Gutowski, president of Western Massachusetts Wright Flight — a non-profit organization that provides an aviation program to area schools — coordinated the visit with Wroth. Gutowski said although Wright Flight is based at Barnes, the field trip was not part of his group’s program, but his group contributed as volunteers.

Businesses based at Barnes that students learned about included Fly Lugu, a flight training school; Aero Design Aircraft Services, an aviation maintenance and restoration company; and Life Star, a critical-care helicopter service.

The students will be eligible to participate in Wright Flight next year when they attend Westfield Middle School. In addition to the middle school, Wright Flight offers its Aviation I program to grade 7 and 8 students at St. Mary’s Parish School and Southwick Regional School. It also offers an Aviation II program for high school students.

Camilleri said many of her classmates found the field trip to be “very exhilarating,” adding that the “staff at Barnes not only filled our brains with knowledge but did it so well.”

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