The Official Magazine of the Minnesota Wing, Civil Air Patrol
FALL - WINTER 2009
Northern Flights
Building Tomorrow’s Leaders Today
COVER IMAGE: C/AB Nathan Bernth is congratulated by SM Steve Dee after soloing.
NorthernFlights
Minnesota WingCivil Air Patrol6275 Crossman LaneInver Grove Heights, MN 55076651-291-0462gsupan@mncap.orgColonel Thomas TheisCommander, Minnesota Wing
Northern Flights
Fall-Winter 2009Editorial Supplied by Major Al PabonNational Public Affairs Team LeaderCAP National Headquarters
Northern Flights
is the authorized publicationof the Minnesota Wing of Civil Air Patrol andis edited by the Minnesota Wing HeadquartersOffice. It is published by a private firm whichis in no way connected to the United States AirForce or the Civil Air Patrol. Opinions expressedin the articles and advertisements in this magazineare the sole responsibility of the contributorsand are in no way endorsed by the United StatesGovernment, the United States Air Force, or theCivil Air Patrol Corporation. This publication ispublished three times a year.Civil Air Patrol is a non-profit volunteerorganization. Federally chartered by Congressunder 36 U.S.C. §§20-208, which is dedicatedto emergency services, aerospace education andmotivation of America’s youth to the highestideals of leadership and public service throughcadet programs. Funds received by the advertisingsales are used to support this publication and tosupport various CAP activities throughout theState of Minnesota.
For information on advertising ratesand space, please call:1-800-635-6036
MinnesotaFlight Academy
Flying High has NewMeaning for Cadetsat Minnesota FlightAcademy
Major Richard Sprouse
Public Affairs Ofcer, Group 2
Minnesota Wing
Regardless of the distance traveled, train-ing young glider pilots is a job Senior MemberSteve Dee loves doing for the Civil Air Patrol.Even better is doing so when one of the cadets who
takes their solo ight also happens to come from
south of the Mason-Dixon Line as well.So how does a glider instructor pilot fromTennessee Wing connect with a cadet from GeorgiaWing at the Minnesota Wing Flight Academy?“It’s a great group of positive cadets and adultsthat make the Minnesota Flight Academy such asuccess, so I look forward to coming back eachyear,” Dee said.Dee, a retired Colonel who served 30 years inthe Air Force and Air Force Reserve, is a pilot for
FedEx when not sharing the ner points of how toy gliders to cadets. He has been making the trip to
the Minnesota for nearly 0 years.
This was the rst visit to “The land of sky blue
waters” for Cadet Airman Basic Nathan Bernth of Peachtree City-Falcon Field Composite Squadronin Georgia.
Continued on page 5 . . .
33
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One of their instructors likened the group of
25 Civil Air Patrol cadets learning about ight at aweeklong ight academy to sponges.
“They’re soaking wet, tired and full of infor-mation at the end of the day,” he said, “but theycome back the next day fresh and ready for more.”The academy, sponsored by the MinnesotaWing of the Civil Air Patrol, is an intense coursedesigned to teach students from Minnesota, Iowa,South Dakota and Nebraska about ground and airoperations of both powered airplanes and gliders,said the Civil Air Patrol’s Dave Skaar.
“The idea is to give them the experience of ying,
not necessarily time in the airplane,” Skaar said.
To get that experience, cadets spent the rst
three days of the academy in the classroom, learn-ing about how an airplane or glider works andthe basic controls. The students also learn aboutsafety around aircraft and performing duties on theground with the gliders, such as hooking them tothe tow plane and guiding the wing as they gainspeed on the ground.
For the next three days, the cadets learn to ythe airplane or glider, taking short ights called
Pat ChristmanThe Mankato (MN) Free Press
Sprouting Wings
sorties with an instructor.Many of the 4- to 8-year-old cadets take
their rst solo airplane or glider ight during the
academy, an experience that leaves them smilingfrom ear to ear, but also costs them their shirt.A tradition among pilots, students takingtheir first solo flight have the date written ontheir shirt and a panel cut out of it to rememberthe experience.
Ben Leaf, 15, closes the canopy on a glider as he prepares
for his second solo ight during the Civil Air Patrol’s ight academy at the Mankato Municipal Airport. Photo -
TheFree Press
C/CMSgt Ben Leaf gives the thumbs up with his ground crew.
A glider lands while a powered ight takes off during the
Minnesota Wing Flight Academy.
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