Flying club displays airplane on Memorial Mall
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 08/27/2007
Eric Zaderej | Exponent Photographer
Members of Purdue's Aviation Club promote the club by displaying a plane on Friday afternoon at Memorial Mall.
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At 3 a.m. on Friday, when a majority of campus was just finishing up the first Thirsty Thursday of fall semester, members of Purdue Pilots, Inc. were towing an airplane across State Street.
In an attempt to attract new members for their club, Purdue Pilots, Inc. placed an airplane on Memorial Mall. Students were allowed to come ask questions and sit inside the aircraft.
"Even though people see planes flying over campus almost every day, they don't know that there is a club at Purdue that owns some of the planes," said Thomas Dautermann, president of the club and a graduate student. "A lot of people sat in the pilot's seat in the cockpit for the very first time in their life."
The club considered Friday to be a success and were excited to share the many activities that the club does throughout the year.
In mid-April, members of the club flew across Niagara Falls and the plane was able to circle directly over the falls. Before that, club members took the planes to the Bahamas for Spring Break. Two members even flew to the west coast, flying over the Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon along the way.
Brian Kozak, a senior in the College of Science and public relations director for Purdue Pilots, loves being an active member of the club.
"Despite all of the practical reasons of flying, it's just a really cool thing to do," Kozak said.
Kozak recommends that anyone even slightly interested in flying should consider taking a demo flight. The flight consists of 30 minutes of hands-on flying. Prospective pilots are able to do the take-off and fly the plane for the entire time period for only $20.
Contrary to many people's misconceptions, anybody can get a pilot's license.
For more information, the Purdue Pilots Club has its callouts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5 and 6 p.m. Sept. 6 in the Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, Room 116.