Aerospace Education

The Aerospace Education mission provides aviation related education and educational activities for members and school classrooms, including formal, graded courses about all aspects of aviation including flight physics, dynamics, history, and application. Courses covering the space program, and new technologies and advances in aviation and space exploration, are also available. There are several programs for CAP pilots to improve their flying skills and earn Federal Aviation Administration ratings.

The Cadet Program has a mandatory aerospace education program; in order to progress, a cadet must take a number of courses and tests relating to aviation. Cadets also have educational opportunities through museum tours, cadet special activities, military and civilian orientation rides, and guest speakers.

Senior members may study aerospace through the Senior Member Professional Development Program. CAP encourages its senior members to learn about aviation and its history, although this is not mandatory. Those who complete the Aerospace Education Program for Senior Members may earn the Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager Aerospace Education Award.

Through outreach programs, including the External Aerospace Education program, CAP helps schoolteachers integrate aviation and aerospace into the classroom by providing seminars, course materials and through sponsorship of the National Congress on Aviation and Space Education. Members also provide their communities with resources for better management of airports and other aviation-related facilities, and promote the benefits of such facilities. The organization also works with other groups, such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of the USA and 4-H to fulfill the education goal set down in the organizations congressional charter - to "encourage and foster civil aviation in local communities."

AEROSPACE EDUCATION NEWS

By: Capt. Healey and Capt. Turner

CIVILIAN NEWS

SEATTLE, WA -- The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner powered by General Electric GEnx-1B engines–ZA005–completed its first flight at 6:29 p.m. Pacific time yesterday, following a three-hour-and-48-minute maiden mission over the state of Washington.

GE executives and Boeing employees assembled to welcome captains Mike Bryan and Mike Carriker to Boeing Field in Seattle following completion of the flight.

“The airplane handled just like I expected,” said Bryan, who captained the flight. “It was just like every other 787 flight that I’ve flown in the last several months–smooth, per plan and excellent.”

Plans call for the fifth Dreamliner the to test the General Electric engine package and demonstrate that the changes made with the new engine do not affect the airplane’s handling characteristics.

Boeing expects the sixth and final 787, also powered by GEnx engines, to join the flight-test program before the end of July.

The first flight of the GEnx-1B engine follows the first flight in February of the GEnx-2B engine, which has logged more than 1,800 flying hours on the Boeing 747-8.

Based on the architecture of the GE90, the GEnx succeeds GE’s CF6 turbofan. Compared with the CF6 engine, the GEnx-1B engine will offer 15 percent improved fuel efficiency, which translates to 15 percent less CO2, according to GE. The engine achieves the improvements with aerodynamic advancements that enable higher pressures and improved energy extraction from a more compact core architecture with significantly fewer parts.

The company expects that the GEnx’s twin-annular pre-swirl, or Taps, combustor will reduce NOx gases by as much as 60 percent below today’s regulatory limits and other regulated gases by as much as 90 percent. Based on the ratio of decibels to pounds of thrust, the GEnx will be the quietest engine GE has produced due to large, more efficient fan blades operating at a lower tip speed, resulting in about 30 percent lower noise levels. The GEnx is the world’s only jet engine that uses a front fan case and fan blades made of carbon fiber composites.

IHI of Japan, Avio of Italy, Volvo Aero of Sweden, MTU of Germany, TechSpace Aero of Belgium, Snecma of France and Samsung Techwin of Korea serve as revenue-sharing participants in the GEnx program.

AIR FORCE AEROSPACE NEWS 

FT. WORTH, TX -- AF-1 and AF-2, F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighters, complete a test flight May 11, 2010, from the Lockheed plant in Fort Worth, Texas, in preparation for the nonstop flight May 17 to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to begin extended flight test operations. Air Force test pilot Lt. Col. Hank Griffiths and Lockheed Martin chief test pilot Jon Beesley flew the jets nonstop in the first multi-ship, long-range F-35 flight.