Sunday, August 07, 2011

Outreach program puts kids in pilot's seat. Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (KBRO), Brownsville, Texas.

Lucy Lopez, 9, has aspirations of one day becoming a licensed private pilot. She belongs to the Flying Knights, which is the aviation club at her school, Egly Elementary in Brownsville.
(Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald)


Once a week, Lucy Lopez leaves her pink T-shirts and skirts hanging in her closet and dons camouflage pants and combat boots.

The 9-year-old is part of an Egly Elementary School outreach program that has put her on the path to someday become a private pilot.

Almost a year ago, Lucy was invited to join the Flying Knights, the Egly Elementary aviation club. The after-school program was created six years ago by Civil Air Patrol Capt. Hector Galvan, who also is a science teacher at the school. Every year, some 15 children, mostly third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, become part of the Flying Knights.

“I teach them the basics at the school using two computer simulators,” Galvan said.

Last May, Lucy got into a plane for the first time at the Brownsville Airport, thanks to Southmost Aviation. Every year, the aviation company allows a couple of students to take part in a flight with one of their pilots.“They worked all year to get into the top five. Then those five competed for the chance to help fly a plane,” Galvan said.

Lucy started practicing with wooden airplane models and computer programs. The club took a total of 18 pilot lessons, which included landing and controlling, as well rescue missions over South Padre Island using location coordinates.

“No one thought I would ever join aviation,” Lucy said. “There is only one other girl in the club.

“Also,” she admitted, “I’m a girly girl.”

Lucy ranked at the top of her class after taking the official private pilot license test.

“It was hard and took a long, long time,” Lucy said.

Galvan was surprised that Lucy could read the instruments as if she had been doing it for a long time.

He is sure that when Lucy turns 16, she will be ready to take the test again to become a licensed private pilot.

She said her mother, Cameron County District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez, is her inspiration. During flight simulations, the children use combat names. Her peers’ names are Cobra, Skywalker, Devil and Snake. Hers is Justice.

“When I go there, I feel like I’m going to court. I feel like, basically, the judge,” Lucy said.

Since Lucy was one of the two girls at the club — and a girly one at that — the boys used to go after her pink plane on flight simulations.

At first, she wasn’t so sure about the military outfit; wearing a black shirt, Woodland camouflage pants and black combat boots was “horrible.”

“She tried to change the uniform,” her mother said. “She bought a camouflage skirt and other boots, but the captain didn’t let her. He said it would be a military issue.”

Students at the aviation club are required to have nothing lower than A or B in their grades. For Lucy, that was not a problem; in fact, she recently received the principal’s award at her school.

Previously, Lucy was enrolled in gymnastics and dance classes. She also competes in golf, joins in church activities and participated in some Camille Playhouse productions, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “Mulan” and “Little Women.”

She also is on a baseball team and enjoys skeet shooting with her father.

Her dad, Leonel Lopez, said it is important to teach her that whatever a boy can do, a girl can do, too. And vice versa.

“She is very confident. Actually, she intimidates some of the boys. When she hits the ball, she is good,” he said.

The Lopezes have a family philosophy: God comes first, family second, and homework third.

“We try to give her a well-rounded education,” her mother said.

Source:  http://www.brownsvilleherald.com

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