LACONIA — Twenty teenagers from across the state spent a week here in July, learning about careers related to aviation and aerospace technology.

ACE, an acronym for Aviation Career Education, is an annual partnership among WinnAero, whose goals are to expose youths to aviation careers, the Laconia Airport Authority and the FAA.

Don Morrissey, a member of WinnAero who flew helicopters in the Air Force, said that last year nine youths attended the day camp mostly from the Lakes Region.

But this year there were more than twice that number, with youths attending from as far away as Windham and Durham.

The teens each got a chance to get behind the controls and in the air over the Lakes Region to log a half-hour of flight time with an instructor. They also visited the Manchester air traffic control tower, explored a helicopter and received presentations from a number of aviation industry workers.

“The emphasis here is on introducing kids to career opportunities with an eye towards the principles of science technology, engineering and math skills taught in schools,” Morrissey said.

Pilots who took the campers up in the air were Gena Adams, Kelly Jeffries, Bob McCulla and George Howarth.

The camp visited CR Helicopters and received a briefing on commercial helicopters, got to try a simulated landing on a computer based program offered by John Leahy, and heard from Steve and Jeannie Selig of Gilford, both retired. Steve flew a B-52 bomber and Jeannie had a career as a flight attendant. Morrissey spoke on helicopter flight, and Mary Build of Naples Seaplane Services taught campers about seaplanes.

The Civil Air Patrol, which provided a van and drivers to take the campers around, also sent Capt. John Foster to talk about the work of CAP in search and rescue as the only official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.

John Anderson, a former F4 pilot in Vietnam, spoke of his role in the sky, and U.S. Department of Transportation Senior Aviation Planner Carol Niewola spoke of work related to traffic patterns for aviation.

“They all built and flew paper airplanes to understand the physics involved in flight,” Morrissey said and all graduated with a certificate and log book presented by Jim Brough of the FAA.

The tuition for the camp was $375, but sponsors helped 12 of the campers with scholarships.

The ACE camp will be offered again next year, and interested teens should visit www.winnaero.org.

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