Shawnee High School students to learn aviation skills by training with Cessna airplane

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students from the Academy @ Shawnee will soon be flying over Louisville inside the school's new airplane.

More than a dozen students were hard at work on Bowman Field Wednesday morning dismantling the Cessna aircraft. They said with a little elbow grease and some mechanical know-how, the sky is the limit.

Kym Rice, the school's principal, looked on.

"They are learning about flying," she said. "In addition, they are learning how to use those skills in the simulator so that one day they may become pilots."

Those same students weren't far from taking off themselves as they worked to dismantle the $80,000 aircraft.

"I have learned that it is a dirty job," said Anthony Re, a student at the Academy @ Shawnee. "Pretty much it's nothing but calluses and a lot of forcing."

Junior Ved Lekkala said it's preparation for his future in aeronautics.

"It's nice to have a plane in your school garage so you can just walk to it," he said. "I want to be a pilot while being an aerospace engineer as a two-way thing, so I can have a secure future."

Since the start of the school year, students have used simulators in its aeronautics program.

"Shawnee gives a lot of opportunities," said student Mathew Van-Neter. "We get to learn how to do controls and how to do banks and degrees and headings. We get to learn all this still about airplanes."

The school's new plane is expected the advance students' knowledge in the classroom. Leaders said once it's dismantled, the plane will be taken to Shawnee High School, where it will be reassembled.

"We want to make sure that we are providing them with things that can engage them," said Rice. "Working with their hands -- doing something that is real-world -- helps them make that connection to learning."

The plane is expected to arrive at the school on Thursday.