Dozens of students take flight for first time in small planes at Louisville's Bowman Field

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Dozens of students took to the sky on Friday for the very first time.

Forty-two middle and high school students from eight different states got the chance to fly small planes at Louisville's Bowman Field.

"So we're the OBAP Shawnee ACE Academy," explained Ray Robinson, the camp's director. "And ACE is a shortened acronym for Aerospace Career Education. So this weeklong program that we provide exposes young folks to opportunities in the aerospace industry."

That means putting real students in real airplanes.

"What we try to, you know, connect with the kids is how your special talent can be utilized in the aerospace industry," he said. "Today the kids are getting a chance to actually sit in the airplane and do that flying for themselves almost real-time – no simulation."

For some camp volunteers, like Jordan Dorsey, the sight of the kids climbing into small planes brings back memories.

"It feels like it was yesterday," Dorsey said. "My first flight ever was with the Ace Academy. And it's what these kids were about to do right now is go up and experience that first taste of flight."

Sydney Brown-Ralston is one of the students who experienced her first flight in a small plane on Friday.

"It was scary at first, but once we got into the air and we started flying around Louisville, it was really nice," she said. "Seeing Louisville was really pretty."

"I really like flying," she added. "Since I've learned more about it over the past week, I've learned to like it. And it's probably something I want to do when I grow up, if I have the chance."

Dorsey knows how she feels.

"That first takeoff – I remember, I'll never forget it, taking off here in Louisville," he said. "And ever since then I knew that flying was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That led to where I am now with UPS – flying jets all across the world. I get to do a lot of different things like, I got to fly in Thunder Over Louisville last year and still being able to come back and watch these kids be a part of this camp – it's all because of the academy. So it's all full circle. It's just really a dream come true for me personally."

This is the 28th year for the ACE Academy.