Aero Club offers chance to fly

  • Published
  • By J.C. Corcoran
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings...," wrote John Gillespie Magee, Jr as he flew his Spitfire V at 30,000 feet. Incredibly, by the time he landed, he had finished his now popular poem entitled "High Flight."

Although most of us will never pilot a British Spitfire, you can "slip the surly bonds of earth" and experience the exhilaration of flight by obtaining your private pilot's license and learning to fly with Hanscom's Aero Club.

The Aero Club offers flight training that could lead to obtaining a pilot's license, right here on base. People can sign up for the next 13-week Private Pilot Ground School training, which begins Feb. 28. All classroom training is conducted at the Aero Club, Building 1722, every Thursday evening from 6 to 9 p.m.

Classes are open to all base ID card holders, including active duty military, Reservists, Department of Defense civilians, NAF employees, base contractors, retirees and authorized family members.

"The Aero Club offers an excellent opportunity for members of the Hanscom community to learn how to fly," said Alan Brown Aero Club manager. "Our location is convenient, and we have some of the best instructors in the area."

By enrolling in the class, students will receive 35 hours of ground school training over 13 weeks, designed to prepare them to take and pass the Federal Aviation Administration written exam. The $500 cost covers the ground school portion, which includes: instruction, materials, and written stage tests which prepare the student for the FAA written test, which is given at one of the computer testing centers.

For the Private Pilot Aircraft certificate, the student must complete 35 hours of flight instruction and, have an oral evaluation given by an FAA-designated examiner. Additionally, a practical flight test is given to determine a pilot's skill level. Costs for this portion of the training vary and are in addition to the cost of the Aero Club course.

For more information on obtaining your "wings" contact the Hanscom Aero Club at 781-377-5160.