By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Local flight cadets will demonstrate their flying experience in two Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Cessna 172 aircraft at Del Rio International Airport on Sunday.
The event is hosted by the Del Rio Civil Air Patrol and will focus on cadets showing their aerospace education in navigation, flight operations and ground handling. Cadets and senior members from the local community will be also participating in the event to show their applied knowledge.
Brett Davis, commander of the Del Rio Civil Air Patrol, said the plan is to bring these aircraft to Del Rio in the future for pilots to perform the next level of orientation flights. New cadets can then wait for the next orientation flight in the future.
“The cadets (in the orientation flights) will start progressing towards solo flights and hopefully work towards their private licenses,” Davis said.
Davis said the 172s are aircraft utilized by the CAP for primary humanitarian and rescue operations.
Davis said the event is a milestone in the cadets’ development as aviators. Local media outlets, city representatives and members of Laughlin Air Force Base (LAFB) have been invited to see the cadets in their uniforms and senior members of CAP perform preflight checks and flight operations.
The aircraft will be at the airport from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and they will be operating out of the area near the Pico Aviation building. The Pico staff ask visitors to the event to park in the main airport parking area.
Each aircraft will be performing four flights throughout the duration of their stay, so each cadet may perform copilot and observer responsibilities. Each flight will last 40 minutes and consist of local area flying over Del Rio’s landscapes and landmarks.
