Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview SPRING 17 | Page 22

Prep
The Fordham Prep Aviation Club
The Aviation Club exposes young men to the numerous
wonders associated with controlled flight, and can trace
its lineage to three distinct periods. A deep thanks goes
to Lou Digiorno, Prep Archivist, for this background
information. In 1908, The NY Aeronautical Society took
control of the Morris Park Race Track. Many historians
consider this location to be the first public airport in the
United States. Fordham Prep students walked the 2.5
miles to view the balloon and early plane exhibits on this
urban airfield in the Bronx.
In 1942, the Aviation Club was born as a subdivision of
the Industrial Arts Club. During World War II, a group of
students interested in flight lent their talents to the war
effort. These students created model aircraft used by
the military for training purposes. In 1966, Mr. Arthur
McCormack Sr. joined the Fordham Prep faculty after a
career at Eastern Airlines. He taught history and shared
anecdotal stories of the wild blue yonder with many Prep
students.
In 2004, Mr. McCormack shared a copy of MS Flight
Simulator 2004 with a novice science teacher, Raymond
Gonzalez. This sparked an interest in Mr. Gonzalez to
learn more about flight in general and the simulator in
particular. As a result, the club has grown from hobby
status to almost an aviation science course. In 2015, with
the help of a talented pool of students the club built its
first basic function flight simulator. In 2016, Fordham
Prep received another flight simulator (also called an
Edustation) on loan from Fordham University.
Hardware & Software
The club currently has two fully functional flight
simulators: the Edustation and our school-built simulator.
The school-built simulator while functional, requires
funding to complete the project to full capability. The FP
Aviation Club utilizes the Prepar3d academic software
package made by Lockheed Martin. The same software is
used to train real-world pilots and is geographically
accurate to any location on the planet. Future software
integration may include the use of flight planning software
available on the I-pad to display airport data necessary for
flights into and out of domestic airports.
Curriculum
Technology has vastly improved our resources. Currently,
a YouTube playlist teaches important lessons such as the
Aerodynamics of Flight and Aircraft Control Surfaces. In
addition, we utilize the Stem-Pilot curriculum created by
engineer Jay LeBuff of Stempilot.com. The stem pilot
coursework aligns the aviation curriculum with all
nationwide science standards. Lastly, the Aviation Club
possesses the DVD private pilot curriculum authored by
the Sporty’s Pilot Shop. Utilizing these resources allows
for dynamic lessons that involve research and the virtual
control of an aircraft.
Past Excursions
The Aviation Club has been to some great places within
New York City, including the JetBlue operations center at
Kennedy Airport. They have been able to see how this
airline serves customers and earns its numerous JD Power
customer service awards. In the past, Jet Blue has held an
empty aircraft for the students to view and learn from.
Students have also interviewed company pilots and
watched the performance of pre-flight checklist
procedures. Members of the club have also visited the USS
Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum to learn about the
rich naval history of the United States. Their next round of
trips will include a local flight school and the Air Mobility
Command Museum in Dover Delaware.
Future Initiatives
• Adopt a pilot program with either Jet Blue, Southwest
or Delta.
• Fund the completion of the FP student-built simulator.
• Attend the OshKosh Air Show.
• Create an Aviation elective course for seniors.
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