Project Flight

There was a lot of excitement at the Brunswick County Airport during the week of July 19-22!  The Brunswick County Department of Economic Development in partnership with the Virginia Aviation Foundation presented a flight and drone camp for young people and adults alike.  Students were able to earn their drone certifications as well as discover the mechanics of flying planes and drones.  As a part of this training, all students were also able to take part in a one-hour flight with a licensed pilot. 

There were 8 instructors and 14 students that participated during the weeklong event.  The instructors came from all over the United States to teach during this camp.  Three licensed pilots were on hand during the week, Retired Colonel John Attebury, Captain William L. Posnett and retired engineer Chris Moody.  Col. Attebury is an Illinois native who has had an extensive flying career and has accumulated over twenty thousand flying hours.  He is currently serving as a civilian flight instructor in Southern Maryland.  Captain Posnett is a Pennsylvania native with a distinguished career as a Navy pilot.  Posnett has acquired over 1,700 civilian flight hours and enjoys flying his Piper Cherokee 180 out of Southern Maryland.  Chris Moody flew his Vans, RV-6 which he built himself.  He is a retired engineer with an impressive background in aviation.  The additional instructors were Judge Robert Colby, George Swanson, Nancy Swanson, Ron Lawhorne, and Bob Gilbert.

Each day of the program, students were given instruction via lecture and interactive hands-on activities.  Breakfast and lunch were provided daily. We would like to offer a big thank you to Supervisor Alfonzo Seward and Rev. Alonzo Seward for grilling us delicious lunches on Monday and Tuesday.  We also want to offer a huge thanks to our committee members Supervisor John Zubrod, Bishop Ronald Thornhill, and LTC Michelle Nhambure for making this event a success.

On Thursday afternoon, students were surprised with an unexpected visit from Supervisor John Zubrod who flew in his Cessna aircraft.   Scott Harris of Sand Dollar Seaplanes also flew in on Friday in his seaplane.  Both gentlemen answered questions and students were given the opportunity to walk around and look inside both of these aircraft.

High school student Cameron Raney shared, “This was a really fun experience and I would really like to do something like this again.  Flying with Mr. Moody was my favorite part of the week!”  Brunswick County Director of Economic Development shared, “It was so rewarding to host this program and offer such a wonderful opportunity to our citizens."  

We want to thank our students, instructors and partners for making this such a successful program.

Click here for photos of Project Flight