\ufeffStudents can head to the Wild Blue Yonder without leaving the classroom through a unique new flight simulator at Southern Local High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
District Technology Director Josh Manist and his group of high school tech interns created a custom-built system for Emily Forbes Bowling\u2019s aviation classes to help give her pupils a bird\u2019s eye view as they learn about flying. Bowling said she wanted to add equipment for the past two years, and when school leaders permitted the plan to take off, Manist assigned the task to his young team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe started getting a plan together and ordering parts,\u201d said Bowling. \u201cIt was March when they started assembling it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The total manhours equated to roughly a week, and in the end her class was outfitted with a new computer which also had been built by students, a Microsoft Flight Simulator program, a 48-inch-screen-sized, single ultrahigh resolution monitor and rudders, yoke and throttle quadrant through Redbird, the latter of which are controls used in actual flight schools. The system uses a Google Earth program to simulate different aircraft in any part of the world, from Youngstown to New York City and even Japan, and can even include live weather and air traffic patterns plus communication with multiple players. Bowling, a licensed pilot, took a turn and mimicked flights in a Cessna 152 at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, along the Hudson River in New York City and in the horizon above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bowling planned to start using the equipment in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can literally fly anywhere in the world, from your backyard at the local airport to somewhere really exotic,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCalibrating the controls and flights was the most difficult part,\u201d Manist commented. \u201cIt\u2019s good equipment and everything is well made. We ordered all the parts to be as realistic as possible for the training. It would be exactly what they see if they go take flying lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bowling said three aviation classes are being held this year and she is incorporating more junior high students to learn about airplanes, rockets, helicopters and drones and they even will visit the Columbiana County Airport in May to talk with other pilots and see actual aircraft. The course, which has been offered for the past two years, has even inspired some pupils to seek a potential career in the skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the kids in last year\u2019s class approached me about getting a pilot\u2019s license and is thinking of going into the Air Force,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the simulator, students will have a chance to practice should they also decide to pilot a real plane in the future. Bowling was grateful to Manist and the tech team for their hard work while team members also enjoyed the experience. \u201cIt was fun to put it together,\u201d said senior Damon Allen. \u201cWe\u2019ve been building computers for a while and the system is awesome. If you want to learn about aviation, [the class] would be a huge step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a good experience,\u201d added senior Scott Pelley. \u201cI learned a lot about aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manist\u2019s son, sixth-grader Zane, also participated by testing the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought it was cool that we could work on it and fly it,\u201d Zane added. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best things and I can play on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also showed interest in taking the aviation class in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Westover said the computer included the largest CPU\u2019s and graphics card and Bowling helped source the parts for the system, plus the large, curved monitor added an extra sense of realism for the panoramic views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe size factor [of the monitor] is hard to find and this fit the role perfectly. With the help of Mrs. Bowling and everyone, we got this made and it\u2019s possible for everybody to use it. We had fun putting this together and testing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manist has had tech interns for the past nine years with students in grades 9-12, but he is looking at adding underclassmen. The interns have been responsible for preparing Chromebooks for state assessments while Zane Manist and Westover have also created model airplanes to fly outdoors, but he said it would be great to build an even better simulator, if possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\ufeffStudents can head to the Wild Blue Yonder without leaving the classroom through a unique new flight simulator at Southern Local High School. District Technology Director Josh Manist and his group of high school tech interns created a custom-built system for Emily Forbes Bowling\u2019s aviation classes to help give her pupils a bird\u2019s eye view […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/SL-Aviation-Simulator-WEB-RGB.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theccmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}