|
Astronaut Visits Langa Air Academy
Date: March 20, 2000
Recently,
Astronaut Kenneth D. Bowersox, Captain,
United States
Navy, visited Langa
Air
Academy
when he flew into St. Louis
Regional
Airport
in his training aircraft, a military jet T-38.
Captain Bowersox
spoke with a group of Langa
Air
Academy
flight students and instructors during his stay. He even rented one of Langa’s flight school
aircraft for a quick trip to Missouri. “It was kind of ironic,” said Scott Langa,
Vice President of Langa Air Academy, “as part of renting the aircraft,
pilots have to get a check out from one of our instructors. This is true even if you are an astronaut,
so Jeff Baalman, one of our instructors
flew with Captain Bowersox to check out
his flying skills.” “He did
OK.” laughed Jeff Baalman.
Captain
Bowersox grew up in Bedford
Indiana
and attended the Naval
Academy. He was selected as an astronaut candidate
by NASA in 1987 and has been on four missions logging over 50 days
in space. He is currently
training as back-up to the first International Space Station crew,
targeted for launch sometime this year.
He flew as the pilot on the Space Shuttle in 1992 and 1993
and was the spacecraft commander on missions in 1995 and 1997.
Captain
Bowersox flew to St.
Louis Regional
Airport
during a training flight. “ We have a requirement to stay current and fly every so
often, so I decided to take a trip into St.
Louis. The folks at Langa were great by letting me
rent one of their aircraft so that I could go see a friend of mine
in Missouri. It beat renting a car.”
“We
were very honored to have an individual
with Captain Bowersox’s credentials come
to our business.” Said Scott Langa. “ It is not everyday
that you meet someone that has been in space four times.”
Langa
Air
Academy
is a professional flight school based at St.
Louis Regional
Airport. They train recreational to professional goal-oriented
pilots and offer a unique financing program where individuals can
earn their private pilot’s license for an investment of only $50
per month. For more information
you can call 258-1005 or look at their web site at www.langaair.com
|
