HOUGHTON — The beginning of the Aviation courses for Michigan Tech’s Summer Youth Program will commence Monday. The focus of this round of courses at the university’s program will instruct 20 students partaking on what it takes to become a pilot, including the exams and tests required.

The classes will focus on aerodynamics, study thrust and drag, understand aviation instruments and how to interpret their uses, navigation, potential aviation careers and flight simulation classes.

The flight simulation classes will seat students in front of a screen with a joystick as their controller and apply the appropriate speeds for taking off, cruising, stalling and landing.

On Thursday (or Friday if the weather is inclement), the students will have the opportunity to fly aircraft with their instructors at Houghton County Memorial Airport.

The program is intended to garner interest in the field of aviation, and it has seen success in that goal. Kevin Cadeau, a Public Affairs Officer for the Civil Air Patrol and one of the program’s instructors, is aware of the success of the program from his personal experience. One of the students whom he had taught in the program and considers a friend now works with him and has just recently achieved his commercial pilot license.

There are another two students that Cadeau personally taught that may be receiving their licenses soon. Cadeau said that he enjoys beginning the journey for potential pilots because of the love of the skill.

“It’s fun to see when someone is progressing, and they’re catching on and they’re enjoying it,” he said.

Cadeau believes even if students do not pursue piloting as a career, these skills are valuable for recreational flying or a plethora of careers attached to the field that do not involve flying. The students will learn about these careers at the program and can see potential involving oneself in dispatching, control tower work, ground team duties, communications, airport management and several Civil Air Patrol positions.