Granite State Flight #53 donates $1,250 for scholarships to Laconia's aerospace academy

LACONIA — High school, junior high and elementary school students in New Hampshire and Maine received their first taste of what it is like to fly airplanes and to use aerospace-related technologies this summer through a $1,250 grant from a local group of former military aviators.

This year’s grant is the latest annual donation that Granite State Flight #53, Order of Daedalians, has made to the Aerospace Career Education Academy at the Laconia Municipal Airport.

The academy also hosts guest speakers to talk about their aviation experiences and careers and the importance of studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.

Flight #53 was represented this year by Flight Captain/Colonel Kevin Grady, USAF (Ret), a former F-15 fighter pilot living in Hooksett, and Flight Provost Marshall, Major Leonard Seagren, USAF (Ret), a former B-52 and FB-111 bomber pilot and rescue helicopter pilot, who lives in New Castle.

Among its goals, the academy demonstrates STEM relationships to aerospace and to encourage students to explore careers in the aerospace field. Depending on student ages, courses include orbital mechanics, the effects of high-altitude flight on the human body and pilot and air traffic control. Some students also fly orientation flights in fixed-wing and rotary-winged aircraft.

This summer, students also had the opportunity to see a firefighting demonstration at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, where flames billowed, and firetrucks responded with high-pressure spray.