Aeronautical class in Alsace: Episode 1
News of 17 October 2022. Last updated on 15 November 2022: some information may have changed. Latest news
OPENING OF THE AERONAUTICS CLASS
The start of the new school year in September 2022 saw the opening of an aeronautics Year 10 class at the Lycée Jean-Jacques Henner in Altkirch (Haut-Rhin). Called ISAS (Initiation aux Sciences Aéronautiques et Spatiales, an introduction to aeronautical and space sciences), this class offers teaching centred on discovering aeronautics, notably through BIA preparation built into the students’ timetable.
Sharing my passion with the students and introducing them to the world of aeronautics by preparing them for the Brevet d’Initiation Aéronautique: it was with this motivation that I came to present my project to my head teacher (Mme Bosswingel) in February 2022. Once the surprise of finding a modern languages and literature teacher who is a class 3 microlight pilot and holds the Certificat d’Aptitude à l’Enseignement Aéronautique had passed, the project was received with such enthusiasm that within a few weeks the initial plan to create a BIA option became the opening of a Year 10 class, named ISAS, specialising in discovering the aeronautical world. An introduction to aeronautical and space sciences that becomes the keystone of a cross-curricular teaching project. Mathematics and physics, but also French and English, have come together around this shared project. The students thus have two hours a week of BIA preparation in their timetable, plus one hour of mathematics and an hour and a half of physics applied to aeronautics. An entire school career will thus be placed under the banner of aeronautics, with privileged openings on Parcoursup for post-baccalaureate guidance (it is a real plus on a CV, some schools give priority to students who have their BIA, and remember that 80% of airline pilots hold this certificate).
Enthusiasm from prospective students was such that it took only a few months to reach the class’s maximum quota of 34 students, and we were surprised to see applications pouring in from middle schools outside our lycée’s catchment area.
It is in this spirit that my flying club, Aviatik CAP 68, based at LFGB (Habsheim), signed an agreement with my lycée in order to provide a practical approach and put the students’ theoretical learning into practice. They will not only be able to discover the aerodrome, visit a control tower, the 133 air base at Nancy or the workshops of Amac Aérospace, where one of the club’s members works, but also make their first introductory flight aboard a three-axis microlight, an ICP Savannah XL.
On the programme: putting into practice, alongside me, a navigation exercise they will have prepared in class.
Enough to get a foot (or even both) into the aeronautical world and the universe of motorised ultralight flying, and certain to inspire vocations among our young people.
DISCOVERING HABSHEIM AERODROME FOR THE ISAS YEAR 10 STUDENTS
It was a very special lesson for the students of the ISAS Year 10 class (Initiation aux Sciences Aéronautiques et Spatiales), not only because it was held on a Saturday afternoon but above all because the classroom was none other than hangar 12-C of Aviatik CAP 68 at LFGB (Habsheim).
On Saturday 1st October, the ISAS Year 10 students went to Habsheim aerodrome to link theory and practice, and what better way to start the “Study of aircraft” chapter than to study them in situ? Braving weather not fit for an aeroplane, the students entered the Aviatik hangar with real curiosity, where the club’s three-axis microlight, FJWPD, an ICP Savannah XL in its blue and white livery, stood in pride of place.
The students immediately noticed the (very) numerous numbered Post-its covering both the outside and the inside of the aircraft; armed with a quiz and a pen, they set off to discover the different parts of an aeroplane: between “leading edge”, “lower surface”, “pitot tube” and “wingtip”, they discovered, or rediscovered in the case of some who already show good knowledge in the field, a whole vocabulary and architecture.
Quiz finished, a few quarter-turn fasteners later, and the powerplant is revealed before our eyes. A Rotax 912 ul of 100 hp, whose operation and components I explained.
This presentation serves as a springboard for the pre-flight inspection that I carry out with the students, who can already memorise not only the essential points to check before any use of the aircraft but also the sensory side of this kind of check, which combines sight and touch.
With access to the adjoining hangar, the students were able to discover, with real enthusiasm, five other types of three-axis microlight: Nynja, Tetras, Dynamic WT9, Jodel, and even an X-Air. Between tube and fabric, wood and fabric, all-metal or composite, the group experienced the plurality of the microlight world and the diversity of materials that make up an aircraft.
To finish, after a short walk outside the hangar that let us see the layout of the aerodrome and the all-important position of the windsock, we gathered in Aviatik’s “cabin”, a cosy all-wood clubhouse equipped for briefings (with video projector and board), to complete the study of the aerodrome by analysing the VAC chart: the published approach chart and circuit.
