Jenn's Blog

Since it is most likely going to be my last summer working ACE Camp I thought I would try to continue the family tradition of attending the camp by begging my uncle to let my 12 year old cousin Jamie to come. My uncle, an American Airlines pilot (former Air Force pilot) thought it was a great idea and agreed to send Jamie up from Virginia to attend the camp. The two of them flew up early Sunday morning, and I drove in to BOS to pick Jamie up. I’m still not quite sure who was more excited about Jamie going to the camp (although I am pretty sure that both my uncle and I are hoping and praying Jamie might catch the aviation bug).

The first day of camp is always crazy. It’s the earliest morning of the week and there is lots to do. Unfortunately for Jamie he had to go in extra early with me since I have to be there to help set up and greet the new campers. This is our largest day camp yet with 29 campers, and 3 are girls (which is another record).

We always begin the day with a speech from Paul (the camp director) and introductions. For the introductions everyone had to state their name, favorite airplane, movie and food. Our intros went something like this:

Name: Jamie
Favorite Airplane: SR-71 (I was so proud)
Favorite Movie: N/A
Favorite Food: N/A

Name: Jenn
Favorite Airplane: B-1B
Favorite Movie: Transformers (the only movie I could think of since it was the last one I saw)
Favorite Food: Anything (I’m still in college mode so I’ll eat anything as long as its free)

After the intro’s we got started with the day’s activities. The day’s schedule  went something like this (although it is more like a guideline because of weather):

Monday,  July 13th

0830 – 0930   Introductions (students & directors) & Review of Camp Rules
0930 – 1015    Plane Parts/Wing Parts/Aerodynamic Terms
1015 – 1030    Break
1030 – 1100    Paper Plane Competition
1100 – 1130    Wing Area -vs- Glide Distance
1130 – 1200    How to Build a Balsa Glider
1200 – 1230    Lunch
1230 – 1300    Break
1300 – 1400    Balsa Glider Design and Building
1400 – 1630    Intro to Flight Simulators and Sim Challenges

At 1630 the camp is over for the day.  Every year it surprises me how exhausting the first day is. By the time Jamie and I got home we were half asleep and starved. I struggled to stay awake while Jamie crashed in his room waiting for dinner. When asked Jamie said his favorite part of the day was playing with the flight sims. I love my camps so much, but if asked I would have to admit that my favorite part of the day is always going to be bedtime!

I couldn’t have asked for a better and smoother first day of camp. Tomorrow will be another great day : )

As part of the DWC overnight ACE Camp (see What is ACE Camp? for more info on the camp itself)  we have always invited the young women attending the camp to join us  two days early for a “Women’s Weekend” at no additional cost. It is gives the women a chance to bond (since they are significantly outnumbered by the male campers…) and get to know women in the aviation industry.

For the past couple of years we have had trouble finding industry professionals who are able to join us for the Women’s Weekend to come talk to the young women. Due to the lack of support we have been forced to cut the weekend down to a “Women’s Day”, and fear that we might be forced to eliminate the women’s portion of the camp completely if we aren’t able to find industry professionals to help us inspire the camps young women.

We are looking for women of all walks of life who work in the aviation industry to come speak at the Women’s Day and spend some time with the girls. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This program is what helped me get my start in aviation, and I would be devastated to see it disappear!!

PLEASE HELP!!!

I’ve been doing a lot of tweeting about something called ACE Camp which led to many inquiries as to what it is. Aviation Career Education (ACE) Camp is a one week program sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration that introduces children of all ages to the aviation and transportation industry (with an emphasis on flying) and the many possible careers available to them.

The ACE Camp program can be found across the nation. I work at 3 of the camps: two at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH (one is a day camp for middle schoolers, and one is an overnight camp for high schoolers), and one in Nantucket, MA (please see my post “A Week on Nantucket” from June).

The inquiries I have been receiving sparked an idea for a series of posts to give some insight into the day in the life of a camper at the ACE Day Camp and will feature my cousin Jamie who is attending the camp for the first time.

I hope you enjoy the journey!

As a huge aviation geek it was a must for me to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie showcased a variety of gorgeous aircraft from the beautiful classics of Enola Gay to the high tech, high powered F-22. Of course I can’t neglect to mention one of my favorites (which I recently had the opportunity to sit in) the sleek and deadly B-1B. Any aviation enthusiast, however, couldn’t help but notice the flaws that come with Hollywood’s interpretation of the capabilities of aircraft. The most obvious was the scene where the characters were preparing to jump out of the C-130. I was impressed by their ability to stay standing during a steep turn that would have left any normal human being pressed flat against the wall. Normally I can overlook minor details such as that but there was one part that particularly bothered me. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is a place I haven’t visited in many years, but if I’m not mistaken it is still located in downtown Washington, D.C. That is why I was particularly impressed when breaking out of the Udvar-Hazy Center’s hangar they found themselves at “The Boneyard” in Arizona. Overall the movie was a fast paced, kick-ass movie that I would recommend to everyone

It is my experience that when you are doing something you really love everything just falls into place and you feel like you are on fire. Its an indescribable feeling that should be cherished as it comes around less frequently than one would hope. That is exactly how I felt this past weekend when I had the opportunity to work for Michael Goulian at the RI National Guard Air Show in Quonset, RI.

I arrived the night before the air show started at around 11pm (straight from the Nantucket ACE Camp) with absolutely no idea of what to expect. It turned out to be one of the most amazing weekends of my life. I arrived on site with Karin (Michael’s lovely wife) early Saturday morning to get the chalet set up. Every performing team or participant at the air show is allotted a section of the VIP area to host guests, which is known as a chalet. This little fenced in tent city was located right on the taxiway and was punctuated by Goulian Aerosport’s truck from F1 Hospitality.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this truck included amenities such as two lavatories, a meeting room, a/c, wifi, running water, fridges and satellite TV (which all came in handy throughout the weekend).

Saturday was dedicated to hosting around 50 current and potential sponsors (although a lot of the other performers and teams spent time hanging out at our chalet), and Sunday was spent socializing with friends and family. I spent both days working hard and meeting many of the industry’s most talented people. It was an interesting experience to see the working side of an air show as opposed to being a spectator. The thing that surprised me the most was the strong sense of camaraderie between the teams and individual performers. They genuinely cared for each other’s wellbeing and would help one another in any way possible. It was like being welcomed into the largest group of best friends I have ever seen. Even being the “newbie” (as the crew chief liked to call me) it was made sure that I was well taken care of, was having a good time and had a chance to meet everyone.  It was an overwhelming and exciting weekend full of star-struck and speechless moments.

By the end of the day Sunday when all of the spectators were filing out through the gates the air show participants and workers were ready to relax and have some fun. For me, however, it was time to pack up and hit the road. Like Karin so wisely said “Always leave the party when you’re having fun.” It was one of those moments that you wish you could hold on to forever. As I drove away from the “survivor’s party” at the base on I knew it would a weekend I would never forget.

Click here for pictures : )

I completed my third (and most likely final) session of the Nantucket ACE Camp last week.  The week started off with an exciting flight over on the new Island Air Caravan. We were all excited to finally see a 25% growth in the camp size, but definitely weren’t prepared for the curve ball that we would be thrown later in the week. Aside from the size of the camp there were many new changes this year. We welcomed a new director, Curt Harvey, to our crew. He was the perfect balance of control and compassion that held the campers attention throughout the week. We had two counselors in training this year as well. One was a student from Maine, and the other a native Nantucket-er. The week consisted of the usual activities, Flight Sim, class room sessions, tours of the ACK terminal and tower, rocket building/launching, a field trip to HYA with Cape Air and my favorite: air port building.  However, half way through the week we were asked to take on 10 extra students from another camp. It is surprising how much of a difference 1 camper makes, let alone 10. It was crazy but fun week dodging the weather and keeping 16-26 (depending on whether the other camp was with us or not) happy. I was sorry not to have more time there and will miss the camp tremendously!!