Jeff Jennings, the Aviation Management and Career Pilot Technology Program Chair for LCC, helps navigate Lenoir County Early College High School’s Lena Cripe through the LCC Redbird Flight simulator Thursday. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

A group of Lenoir County Early College High School students took to the skies Thursday — sort of.

The Young Engineers Club visited the Lenoir Community College Aviation Center at the Kinston Jetport to learn about flight and ground careers in the field. The students toured the Segrave Aviation hangar and experienced the LCC Redbird Flight simulator in the process.

Dr. Rita Joyner runs the Young Engineers Club and said it was vital to showcase the importance of engineers to the students, no matter the career each one takes.

I wanted to have this group because I’m a mechanical engineer and just wanted to spread the good news of being an engineer and all the opportunities it affords our students,” Joyner said. “Most of them want to be engineers — mechanical, aeronautical, biomedical. Even the ones that don’t want to be engineers, I work with them to show whatever career they take, that engineering is always going to be part of anything made in the world.”

Jeff Jennings, the Aviation Management and Career Pilot Technology Program Chair for LCC, conducted the flight simulations with the students and said the Redbird was helpful in numerous ways.

“It helps pilots when it comes to cutting cost for training and the kids can pick up hours for flight certification,” Jennings said. “Most of the group already has an interest in engineering and they loved the simulator.”

LCECHS freshman Lena Cripe said she enjoyed the event, especially the simulator.

“I liked how easy it was to fly,” Cripe said. “I had fun with the simulator and we also had the chance to see different types of engineering.”

Sophomore Ruben Trejo said the controls of the simulator felt like he was truly in the skies.

“It was very responsive,” Trejo said. “I wasn’t able to do a barrel roll or loop-de-loop, but it was a professional experience — it combined the principles of being a pilot and sensitive controls.”

Established in 1970, the LCC aviation program is one of just three in the state and the lone entity in Eastern North Carolina. The simulator is FAA approved, allowing students to log hours for flight time and training costs are in addition to basic tuition costs.