Journal 31

For my job shadowing I went to Landmark Aviation at Springfield Capital Airport. Landmark Aviation is and F.B.O. which stands for fixed base operation. This means Landmark houses, fuels, and repairs aircraft right on the field. It was and extremely exciting experience. I was also able to take a tour of the control tower. That was     awesome. I had to sign a waiver saying that I would not divulge any information concerning the tower, because it was a Federal building. I was able to see all aspects of the aviation career. I went into the maintenance hanger and was able to work on some of the planes. That was cool because most people do not get to see how a plane really works, they just assume that it flies because of the propeller. There are so many more aspects that go into flying a plane then simply having enough power. I also got to refuel a jet and some smaller aircraft. When fueling the airplanes it is important to make sure that you are putting the right kind of fuel into the plane. There are two types of fuel. There is JetA fuel and there is Avgas100LL. JetA, as you might expect is for jet turbine aircraft. Avgas100LL is for piston powered planes. If you put the wrong fuel into a plane it is extremely dangerous. The plane will run off of the gas that is still in the fuel pump, but once the plane gets in the air the engine will die. I was also able to taxi some of the planes off of the runway. It was difficult to get used to at first, because you steer the rudders with your feet, as well as braking with your feet. I would love to become a pilot. I could definitely see myself doing those jobs. The excitement and danger that comes every day interests me very much. I hope to become a missionary pilot, so this was a great experience for me.