AVIATION CLASS TAKING FLIGHT AT FHS

Fredericksburg Standard - July 17, 2024

A new aviation program is about to take off at Fredericksburg High School this year and interest in the class is rising. “This year, we have 21 in the first class,” said teacher

Eric Odom. “We’re starting out with ninth and 10th graders this year. The class will probably grow between nowand when school starts.” Odom, 54, is a former U.S. Marines helicopter pilot and mechanic who served in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield.

“I’ve been flying airplanes since I was in the Marine Corps,” he said. Odom said the class isn’t just for students interested in being pilots. “I want to get them interested in flight and mechanics,” he said. “Southwest Airlines will pay for them to go to school. They need mechanics badly.”

Gwen Fullbrook, owner of the Crosswind Aviation flight school, said there are many opportunities for students at the Gillespie County Airport. “They want to have kids that are doing internships out here, which we can do that,” she said. “And apparently Workforce Solutions has contacted them and apparently, they will pay for it. So, if a business will hire a kid, they will pay for it.”

Gwen Fullbrook, owner of

the Crosswind Aviation flight

school, demonstrates her

Redbird TD2 simulator. The

unit is certified and pilots can

log actual flight time with it. –

Photo by Joe Southern

Odom said the aviation course involves a lot of handson instruction and when students complete all four years of the program, they will qualify for their drone pilot’s license.

He said piloting drones is a lucrative, up-and-coming career option for students. “They can make good money doing that,” he said. The class, however, is about much more than flying.

“We will be building an actual flyable aircraft made out of cardboard,” he said. The curriculum for the program was developed by the nonprofit Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) organization. It is given free to schools nationwide. Tivy High School in Kerrville began using it three years ago. “Kerrville’s got their program going and I looked at

theirs and talked to their teacher,” Odom said. “They said any help I need to just call them.”

Odom is already getting a lot of support from businesses at the Gillespie County Airport.

Fullbrook was instrumental in pushing for the program with the Fredericksburg Independent School District. She said she spent the last five years meeting with administrators and the school board trying to get the program off the ground. “After five years of begging and pleading and what have you, they finally decided to do it,” she said. “Tivy started theirs three years ago. They started with 25 kids and they’re up to 85 now.” Fullbrook said when she started Crosswind Aviation at the airport five years ago that there was nothing organized

to help train new pilots or to create interest in aviation careers. In 2019, she convinced Airport Manager Tony Lombardi to let her conduct a career day at the airport. The event drew 325 students from 23 schools across the Hill Country. Since then, she has been doing everything she can to get people — especially young people — interested in aviation careers.

“I do the Santa Fly-in and we’ll have 500 to 1,000 kids show up,” she said. Although she has become the airport’s biggest cheerleader, she is not alone in efforts to drum up local interest

in aviation. “They do the EAA, the local pilot’s group, they do Young Eagles flights out here at least twice a year,” she said. “And we’ll get 60-70 kids come out and do that, but that’s just for kids. I want to do it for adults. I want anybody who has not flown in a general aviation airplane to be able to do that.”

To help promote interest in aviation, as well as Gillespie County’s role in aviation history, she is organizing an event on Sept. 21 called First Flight, First Flight. On Sept. 20, 1865 — 38 years before the Wright brothers made their historic flight — Jacob Brodbeck flew a spring-powered aircraft locally, becoming the first to fly an airplane. “Sept. 21 is when we’re going

to celebrate. It’s going to be First Flight, First Flight,” she said. “We’re going to do free flights for anybody who hasn’t flown in a general aviation airplane.

One local company wanting to be involved with the new program at FHS, is TacAero, which operates a specialized advanced flight school along with a maintenance shop. The shop is overseen by Tommy Theiss, who has been partnering with Fullbrook in her efforts to get the program going at the high school. He said they are in need of mechanics and he would love to help train the next generation locally. Fullbrook said students in the new program don’t necessarily have to be interested in flying. “If you like to work on cars, teach these kids how to work on airplanes and their pay just went up big time,” she said.

Tommy Theiss, maintenance manager for TacAero, stands next to a Civil Air Patrol plane that is in the shop for its annual maintenance inspection. – Photo by Joe Southern

Eric Odom

Odom said he is anxious to get the aviation class started when school resumes. He said the school is getting flight simulators and small drones to get the program started. He said his style of teaching is very hands-on. “If you don’t get them hands-on, you’re going to beat them up with books,” he said. He said he wants to partner with Crosswind and TacAero and to take advantage of having the airport just down the road from FHS. One of the benefits is that Crosswind has a flight simulator and is in the process of setting up a simulator lab. “I want to get them out to the airport eventually,” Odom said.

Fullbrook said she wants the students to come out, as well. “What I want to do is get them out here. That’s the whole point. You need to be in the environment,” she said. “You want them out here where they can see the airplanes coming and going and just be part of the environment. And that’s what we’ll do with the kids from the school,” she added. Her Redbird TD2 simulator is certified, which means pilots can record 2.5 hours of flight time on it and pilots getting their instrument rating can record 10 hours of flight time. She also has a Cessna 172 that students can train in when they reach that point in their instruction. Fullbrook started the A is for Airplane foundation to offer scholarships for kids to learn to fly and to purchase more simulators. She said the aviation program will be a boon for the high school. “Between the rocket program and this aviation program… You could end up with a school that is really focused on STEM and aviation,” she said. Odom said he wants the program to be fun and educational for the students. “I want them to have fun, enjoy it, and learn something from it,” he said.