Glider Academy underway with Sq. 11 cadet

Palm Springs Sq. 11 Cadet 1Lt Ashley Mayo is one of 24 cadets currently in Rome, Georgia attending the National Flight Academy, Glider program. The Rome News-Tribune newspaper today ran two articles featuring the academy. NFA-G Rome is Mayo's second National Flight Academy. She graduated from NFA-G in Colorado where she earned Cadet Pre-Solo Wings in 2009. Cadets attending glider academy for a second year may have the opportunity to solo.

Glider Academy Under Way at Airport by Daniel Bell, Staff Writer
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The 24 Civil Air Patrol cadets participating in the National Flight Academy glider training at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport aren’t simply going up there and floating around, said retired Air Force Major Gen. George Harrison, one of the instructors and former director of the program.

There is a lot of classroom work, homework, and prerequisite work too, and that’s assuming one is even accepted into the program. About 150 people applied for the academy in Rome, one of only three such training programs in the country.

“You can imagine a 14-year-old trying to fly an airplane using trigonometry. It’s kind of tough,” said Harrison.

Woodrow Shepherd, the Southeast Regional Glider activity director, said the cadets, ranging from 14 to 17 years old, have to do a lot of reading before arriving in Rome, and then have to do a lot more reading once they’re here. They start with flights early in the morning, he said, then hit the classroom, then more flying, then more coursework.

Those cadets who are participating in their second academy will have the chance to fly solo before the week’s end, and the really advanced students may even earn a glider license and be able to take up passengers.

The cadets come from as far away as California and Maryland, as do the instructors and some of the equipment, because Rome’s academy is the best, said Shepherd. He attributed the success of the program to airport officials for working so hard, to Berry College for providing a great place to stay and eat, and to the quality of instruction.

The point of the academy, explained Harrison, is to stress the importance of leadership and education and to either fuel or ignite a love of flight.

“What I really care about is if they get turned on by science, if they get turned on by technology, and if they do something with their lives,” he said.

The academy continues at the airport and in the skies above Armuchee through next week and will wrap up Friday with a banquet at Berry College.

Read more:

Airport Glider Academy Starts Today by Kim Sloan, Staff Writer
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