PENSACOLA — After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the National Flight Academy (NFA) is thrilled to announce the return of its immersive, STEM-based programming schedule.
Registration for 2022 NFA Summer Deployments opened on Nov. 26.
The NFA’s flagship program is a six-day, five-night deployment for rising seventh through 12th-grade students.
Attendees live aboard the virtual aircraft carrier, AMBITION, a 102,000-square-foot, four-story structure, complete with accommodations for up to 144 students who are referred to as AMBITION eXperimental Pilots (AXPs).
Students experience theme-park style thrills surrounded by advanced technology, flight simulators, and virtual reality. Surrounded by realistic sights, sounds, and smells of an aircraft carrier, the students plan and complete missions using a variety of STEM-based concepts while using critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and effective communication.
“The National Flight Academy is a unique experience that sparks students’ interest in STEM and propels them forward,” said retired Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad, president and CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. “Our program serves as a vehicle that allows students to interact with military personnel, explore careers and observe STEM applications in the real world. At the end of the day, this experience emboldens many kids to pursue future opportunities in aviation.”
Class details and dates
Tuition is $1,500 per student. Deployments begin on Sunday at noon and end on Friday at noon with a graduation ceremony in the National Naval Aviation Museum’s Blue Angels Atrium.
Located on Naval Air Station Pensacola, the National Flight Academy is a program of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation Inc., and is authorized, but not endorsed or funded, by the United States Navy and the United States Government.
Summer 2022 Deployment Dates
Deployment 22-01: May 22-27
Deployment 22-02: May 29 – June 3
Deployment 22-05: June 19-24
Deployment 22-09: July 17-22
Deployment 22-11: July 31 – Aug. 5
Deployment 22-12: Aug. 7-12
To register for the National Flight Academy, visit www.nationalflightacademy.com/deployments/.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: National Flight Academy programming returns in 2022