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'Plane' Hard Work

By Marilyn Turner

Hands-on experience is sometimes just 'plane' hard work. A group of cadets from 27 Air Cadet Squadron in London, ON, learned that when they helped the city's community college launch its new aviation technician diploma program. They squeezed a Cessna 150 -- wings and tail removed -- through the doors of a high school lobby for the media announcement, put the aircraft back together again and then dismantled it for storage after the event.

Some of the cadets have been taking an aviation program, offered by the London District Catholic School Board, at their secondary school. But following a partnership agreement between the school board and Fanshawe College this year, the program is being moved to another secondary school next to the college. Many of the squadron's cadets also attend that secondary school and hope to take the aviation program there. Both the high school and college students will get their hands-on training in the high school, where the school board-owned Cessna now 'lives'.

The squadron hopes to benefit from the partnership in other ways. It has initiated informal talks with the school board's program co-ordinator regarding possible support to the squadron's local headquarters training

Ms Turner is a civilian instructor and level-one officer with 27 Squadron. She also works for Fanshawe College.