The Civil Air Patrol
By: Hannah Kramer
Flying aircraft, learning aviation technology and history, wearing air force style uniforms, and flying state of the art flight stimulators are just some of the exciting things one can take part of when they join Captain Simon’s club; The Civil Air Patrol.
The Civil\ Air Patrol (CAP) is a nonprofit organization that allows students, which have an interest in aviation, to take part and learn from literally “hands on situations”. The program is designed for students in between the ages of twelve and twenty one. They can become a member of the academy and study to complete missions such as emergency services, aerospace education, and cadet programs for teenagers. Emergency services deals with disaster relief and search and rescue, while aerospace education informs people about planes and the sky. The Cadet Program provides an interest for future pilots.
But what exactly does the CAP do at Miami Beach Senior High? They help provide kids, who are interested in aviation, to reach their goal. It’s free for kids who want to learn at MBSH. “
For young people who are interested in flying, there is no less expensive way to learn how to fly than the Civil Air Patrol. The only other cheaper way is to have your own plane. Because in Civil Air Patrol, they take you up, they give you hours, and all you have to do is pay for gas. It costs you maybe like 25 bucks for a couple hours. Otherwise, you’d have to rent the plane, which costs several hundred dollars, you have to pay the instructor, that’s another hundred buck, plus fuel. So you’re getting your pilot hours for 1/5 or 1/6 the cost.”
The program came to Miami Beach in the 1960’s, and started at MBSH in the 90’s. But then left and was deactivated. According to Captain Simon, it was reactivated just in September. Already, they have many members. “We have 9 members at the computer with national registered. We have 3 adults,” Simon says excitedly. But their goal is 12 members, in order to get reactivated with the state Civil Air Patrol.
The club has big, big plans for the year. “Our big plan is to get rechartered so we can become officially own separate squadrent. Right now we are part of another squadarent, temporarily the Tamiami squaderent, which is way out in Kendal and that presents some problems because it’s very far away.”
If a student is interested in joining the Civil Air Patrol, they can talk to Captain Simon. The group can meet at MBSH every Monday night at 6:30 pm and every Tuesday after school.