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Roxbury Aviation First Student Ear Story by MELISSA SUMMERS Photos by Karen Fucito Not many students can say they landed a plane at LaGuardia Airport during a simulation at school. There are even fewer who can say they landed an actual plane anywhere at all. Through a partnership between a handful of New Jersey high schools and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a unique program is giving students the chance to not only explore careers in aviation and aerospace but to literally learn to fly. Currently in its third year at Roxbury High School in Succasunna, the program has even produced its first licensed pilot. The district was approached with the idea for the program four years ago by a commercial pilot, said one of the high school’s aviation instructors, Mike Gottfried. During the fall of 2019, representatives from the Board of Education attended an AOPA conference in Denver, Colorado, to learn about the program. AOPA provides the content for free to any school willing to implement it, Gottfried said. AOPA offers workshops, webinars and other resources to schools taking part in the program, Gottfried added, and each district allocates money in the budget to implement the program. Gottfried and fellow Roxbury High School colleague Chris Blough were already teaching geophysical science and physics. Since much of the subject matter aligned, they were asked to take on the aviation courses. Roxbury High School first offered an introduction to aviation class during the 2020-2021 school year. “It was in the middle of COVID, so that was challenging,” Gottfried said of the endeavor. 22 LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Memorial Day 2023
Program Soars with ning Pilot’s License The high school has continued to add classes in the years since and will offer a total of four different courses next school year. “Anyone can take the Introduction to Aviation course for their first year,” Gottfried explained. During the second year, students can choose to do the Pilot Pathway, which is two more years of classroom education towards a pilot’s license. “Or, they can take our Drone Technologies course. It’s everything you need to get your Part 107 drone commercial license,” explained Gottfried. He describes the pilot course as driver’s education for pilots. Students learn the ground portion, and they can choose to take the written test and enroll in flight training, according to Gottfried. “Pilot Pathway students will be ready to take that test at the end of three years,” he said. “It fits into the curriculum great,” said Matthew Mawn, supervisor of science, engineering, technology, design and visual arts at Roxbury High School. “It’s kind of a mesh of technology, engineering and science. Students who exhibit interest in those areas can come put those skills to the test in the field of aviation.” Much of the learning materials and tools of the trade, like maps and plotters and even some remote control planes, were provided free to the program by the Civil Air Patrol, a nonprofit civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force, said Gottfried. Flight simulators were installed in the school in the first year. “The following year we added some more, and this year we are up to 11 simulators,” he said. Gottfried is currently going for his pilot’s license, so he brings firsthand experience to the classroom. “Figuring out where the instruments are, how the plane works, how to start up the plane, little details like that, will save you a lot of time and money when you are in the air,” he said. “I printed Top to bottom, left to right: Max Corsi at a threemonitor simulator. Teacher Mike Gottfried at the aeronautical chart hanging in his classroom. Gottfried, right, watches as Yuriy Hrytsay lands a drone on the black case. Yuriy, Tyler Benedetto and Aaron Pineiro at the simulators. Gottfried, Aaron, Tyler, Michael Gutierrez, Daniel Sugarman, Sebastian D’Amoto, Max and Yuriy watch drones in flight. Tyler operates a drone. Michael, Aaron, Daniel, Tyler, Yuriy and Max watch as Tyler maneuvers a drone. out the checklists that you have to go through to make sure the aircraft’s ready. I teach that to them, and they practice on the simulators.” Tyler Benedetto, 17, a junior from Succasunna, is one of Roxbury High School’s first success stories, only two years into the program. He has wanted to go into aviation for a while, so when he started high school and heard about the new program, he said he had to take it. “It was the push I needed. I took it and ran with it,” he said. “I learned everything I needed to know for the written test,” Tyler said. That left the pilot training, which can be expensive. “Gottfried and I applied for a scholarship from AOPA both years. My sophomore year they implemented a requirement where you had to pass the written test in order to apply and that cut down the number of applicants,” said Tyler. This change resulted in both of them receiving $10,000 towards flight training. “So that was the last piece I needed.” He began training with American Flyers in Morristown on Memorial Day 2022, finally earning his license on February 1 of this year, just three months after getting his driver’s license. “I want to be an airline pilot—that’s the goal,” said Tyler. “There are a few different licenses and ratings that you need. Right now, I can fly a single-engine plane, up to six passengers, in nice weather—to put it in simpler terms. There’s an instrument rating that allows you to fly in bad weather and then you do your commercial rating, which allows you to fly in bigger planes. From there, you’ll build hours. After 1,500 flight hours, the last thing you need is the airline transport pilot license [ATP]. When you get that license, that’s when you can go to the airlines.” Tyler plans to attend college at either Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, or Arizona State University, where he’ll earn all the ratings and licenses he needs, plus a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Science. This year, Tyler and sophomore Yuriy Hrytsay started an Aviation Club. They welcome anyone with an interest in aviation, especially those who might not have been able to fit the program into their schedules. “The club has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Yuriy, 16, of Kenvil. “It is based on fostering a love for aviation, as opposed to teaching aviation.” Yuriy, currently in his second year in the aviation program, was surprised by how much he’s learned. “There’s a lot you don’t see on the surface. Someone flying an airplane is turning the steering wheel. They are moving some levers. It’s all the stuff that happens before and after the flight, all the calculations and all the preparation. A lot of people see the math and science and they get bored. Maybe I’m biased. I think this is fun math.” The course shows students the real-world application of what they are learning. “I can go on a simulator and use the calculations that I made to fly from an airport to an airport using weight and balance, using the amount of the fuel that I calculated I need,” Yuriy said. “I can take what I did on paper and bring it not necessarily into the real world because it’s a simulator, but as close as we can get in a school setting. I don’t think Roxbury’s going to pave a nice runway for us in the back,” Yuriy added with a laugh. Like Tyler, Yuriy wants to become a commercial pilot. But he’s taking a different approach—a training program sponsored by United Airlines called Aviate. “It’s a four-year program. You spend the first year getting all your licenses—private pilot, instrument, multi-engine, everything you need,” said Yuriy. The next three years he’ll work as a certified flight instructor, gaining experience and racking up flight time, he said. “You’re training other people to fly, and you’re getting paid for it, so it’s kind of a win-win-win.” Once he’s earned his airline transport pilot license, Yuriy said he’ll be guaranteed an interview with one of United’s subsidiaries. Senior Max Corsi, 17, of Succasunna, was in the program for two years but was unable to include it this year. He’s now a member of the Aviation Club. “I’ve been interested in flying for a really long time, but more into the engineering and math side of it,” he said. But it is his love of the aircraft and how they work that has given him direction. He’ll be attending Purdue University next year, where he’ll study Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. His dream job is to work at Boeing or Lockheed Martin, where he’d be able to envision and build the very planes on those simulators. “Knowing how to fly a plane, what the pilot sees and feels, is going to make it easier,” said Max. “I’ll have a better understanding of what to make, what to design.” Administrators remind students that the field of aviation doesn’t just include pilots, said Mawn. The school has brought in guest speakers, held career panels and even invited the New Jersey State Police to land their helicopter at the school. Field trips are also part of the experience. On a recent trip to Newark Liberty International Airport, Mawn said students were escorted into the air traffic control tower to observe the magic behind real takeoffs and landings. They went to the maintenance hangar; they saw inflight food being prepared. “If a student does have an interest and wants to check it out, I highly encourage them to join the club or try Intro to Aviation. There are a lot of fun things going on here,” said Mawn. “There are a lot of ways to explore the skies.” lakehopatcongnews.com 23
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