Cooper Uebelhor, a senior at Forest Park, directed the visiting UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter to its parking space when it visited the Huntingburg Airport Wednesday afternoon. The helicopter was flown in by its Army National Guard crew from Shelbyville, Ind. The pilot, Major Jon Robertson, who is from Owensboro, Ky. originally, has family in Ferdinand. Robertson was invited to bring the helicopter down for the aviation class by Huntingburg Airport Manager Travis McQueen
Students from the aviation class waited as the crew disembarked from the helicopter. The Patoka Valley Career and Technical Cooperative offers aviation courses to students through a partnership with the airport and VUJ.
Chase Nord and Ethan Freyberger, both seniors at Jasper High School, walked with their teacher, Ben Schwenk, to the airport terminal after helping to refuel the Blackhawk.
Major Jon Robertson spoke to the students in the aviation class about his experiences flying helicopters for the National Guard as well as shared career opportunities that are available for pilots. He took time to answer questions from the students about the technical aspects of flying helicopters compared to flying fixed-wing aircraft.
Brice Austin, a senior at Forest Park, explored the cockpit of the UH-60 Blackhawk.
Shelby Skelton, a senior at Heritage Hills, examined the interior of the helicopter Wednesday. Skelton will be attending ISU and stated she will participate in the ROTC program there with plans to join the Army as a helicopter pilot.
The students piled into the passenger area of the Blackhawk.
Luke Trout, a senior at Southridge, took a turn in the pilot seat of the UH-60 Blackhawk while the crew spoke with students outside the helicopter.
Awesome!