MISSOULA - The rumbling of a large helicopter filled the skies over Missoula on Friday morning and received a lot of attention — and that was the point.
The mission was to inspire students to look up and consider a career in the air.
So, how does a 50,000-pound CH47 Chinook twin-rotor helicopter land on a soccer field like a butterfly?
That’s all part of the wonders of aviation and something Sentinel High School students got to see up close.
But beyond just being something cool to check out, there is a real purpose here; to introduce students to the possibility of becoming pilots, or aeronautic engineers — or any number of the dozens of well-paying jobs in the airline industry that are in big demand right now.
Airplane Owners and Pilots Association member Burt Caldwell campaigned for Sentinel to include aeronautics in its engineering department. The program is now in its second year and is growing.
"The program gives engineering students a real-life application to learn with. it's not just STEM, it's aviation related. It's based on it. It helps them lock in any of the things they learn by applying them to something."
It was also a chance for the Montana Army National Guard to talk to students about what they do and how they serve with the help of this incredible machinery.
"And what that does for us is it shows our capabilities as we serve the state and federal governments at the National Guard level for what we can accomplish,” said Montana Army National Guard pilot Steven McKenzie. “Whether it be a winter response or rescue or firefighting in the state, or even deploying to defend our nation's interests abroad."
One student we met is already a pilot and a member of the Civil Air Patrol, but the up-close experience was something special.
"There a lot of different dials and a lot of different screens in there. I think they're set up for a lot of different missions and it's cool to ask them about what kind of stuff they're managing and what they're looking for when they're flying; things like that," Wesley Sedgwick said.
"As a military buff, this is kind of a dream come true for me. I've seen multiples of these things taking off from Helena and it's always impressive to see them take off because the rotors' flexing at lift-off is super cool to watch," said student Connor Barnhouse. "And just the capacity they can hold is also impressive for how simple this machine is."
The Chinook loaded its crew and took off into the sky after an hour, maybe leaving behind some hope more future aviation professionals just found their path.
“It's good for the country. We need more people in the aviation industry so it doesn't fail,” Caldwell told MTN News.
Next week, we're going to get a closer look inside Sentinel High School's aeronautics engineering class to hear from students about what they're learning and if an aviation career may be for them.
