2003 News...

Students take in air fair in Harrison

By CAREN HALBFINGER

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: October 25, 2003)

HARRISON - A Black Hawk helicopter and Gulfstream G400 jet were two of the biggest draws yesterday at the second annual aviation career fair at Westchester County Airport.

Most of the 2,500 middle and high school students who attended the fair eagerly waited their turn to board and ogle those aircraft and 10 others parked at the airport. The free fair is hosted by the Westchester Aviation Association and includes participants from NASA and aviation manufacturers. It is also open today, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

" I like the private plane the best,'' said Vanessa Vargas, 12, of Yonkers, who has yet to take her first flight. She was talking about the Gulfstream G400, a 13-seat luxury jet in which plastic is a dirty word. The tables and consoles are fashioned of high-gloss burl wood, and even the toilet seat is a cushy gray leather. The price for this lofty luxury is a mere $30 million.

Annie Livingstone, 12, of Ridgefield, Conn., said the seat in the jet that appealed to her was not the pilot's, but the passenger's. " I'm interested in being an actress and buying that plane,'' she said, noting the plasma television, DVD player, and seats that turn into feather beds. "I can live in there.''

" Let's feel rich for a moment,'' said Graham Long, 13, from Sherman, Conn., reclining in a gray leather seat and closing his eyes.

With planes taking off overhead and the chance to examine aircraft that might ferry Jennifer Lopez from coast to coast, along with those that carry paratroopers and Marines, 11-year-old Joseph Enriquez of Yonkers found the fair exhilarating. " I've never seen so many planes before in my life,'' he said, after talking to pilots and listening to a NASA educator, as well as hearing pitches from the U.S. armed forces and the weather service. "I'm thinking about becoming a pilot.''

Part of what fair organizers had in mind was exposing children to the variety of jobs available in the aviation industry, as well as exciting them about flight. Adults are also welcome to explore job opportunities with any of the 50 exhibitors from government and private industry.

" Kids used to be able to come up to the airport fence and hang out,'' said Berl Brechner, president of the Westchester Aviation Association. "With security now, that doesn't happen anymore. We want to make aviation more inviting and open.''

Marc Ghiron, 15, a 10th-grader from Pleasantville, attended the fair to let teenagers know they don't have to wait until they're grown to get involved with aviation. Ghiron is a cadet chief master sergeant with the Raptor squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. The Raptors assist in search and rescues of downed aircraft, get leadership and survival training and test their flight skills via computer simulations. " You can join when you're 12,'' he said.

Members of the Young Eagles program from the Experimental Aircraft Association's Aviation Foundation were busy handing permission slips out to students from age 8 to 17 so they could take a free flight on a propeller plane Nov. 9 from Hangar M. The organization aims to provide a brief, but meaningful flight for 1 million young people by the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered flight on Dec. 17.

Ron Ernst, a NASA educator, told a group of Air Force Junior ROTC members from Norwalk (Conn.) High School that the agency wasn't only for rocket scientists and test pilots. " We've got mechanics, lawyers, teachers ... you name it, we've got the job,'' he said. "We're the place to come after you get your education. At NASA, you can be part of the future of technology.''