Prince William Composite Squadron

Virginia Wing, Civil Air Patrol

Cadets Soar Into the Air

NEWS RELEASE: (Manassas, Virginia):  

The Prince William Composite Squadron continues to work with our Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadets in developing their aerospace education and exposure. 

On March 29th, six members of the Virginia Wing participated in the CAP Cadet Orientation Ride Program which provides a free introduction to the thrill of aviation.

 Cadets Adam Beaver, Christian Berryman, Patrick Guelcher, Matthew Hull, Clayton Shablon and Kristin Wofford arrived at the Manassas Regional Airport to begin their Civil Air Patrol Orientation Ride Program.  CAP Lt’s Carey and Bergeron provided these cadets with their ground and pre-flight orientations, while CAP Major Paul Holmes served as our CAP Orientation Ride Pilot.

 The emphasis of flight one was to demonstrate aircraft ground handling, preflight inspection, before takeoff, takeoff, basic inflight maneuvers, approach to landing, landing and rollout, and post flight procedures.  Our cadets learned the basics of safety and flying while being able to sit in the front seat and taking control of the airplane.   Major Paul Holmes, their orientation pilot, provided these cadets with an experience they will never forget. 

 Cadets Shablom and Wofford were scheduled for the first sortie of the day.  They flew from the Manassas Regional Airport to the Culpeper Regional Airport and around that area.

 Cadets Beaver and Guelcher flew the second sortie of the day, and Cadets Berryman and Hull flew the third sortie.  They all flew the first flight profile of five powered flights provided free of charge by the US Air Force and Civil Air Patrol. 

 Collectively, all of the six cadets expressed their appreciation at being able to learn and experience first hand the joy of flight.

 Major James Covel, the Prince William Commander and Capt Dave Harback, the Prince William Deputy Commander for cadets were very pleased with the accomplishments of the six cadets that flew.    He indicated that he was very proud of their growth and continues to look forward to their contributions within the squadron.

 The Civil Air Patrol , the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, was founded on December 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Civil Air Patrol has more than 55,000 members nationwide and performs 95% of the continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions, as tasked by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC), and we have been credited by the AFRCC with saving 58 lives during 2006.  Our volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief, counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

 The Prince William Composite Squadron meeting weekly on Tuesday evening at the Army National Guard Armory in Manassas.  If you are interested in learning more about our cadet program or officer program, please contact our Deputy Recruiting and Retention Officer, 2Lt Al Bergeron at (202) 345-7512 or plan to visit with us on Tuesday evening.  You may also contact Major Jim Covel at VA102.cc@cap.org.

Send mail to princewilliamsquadron@gmail.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 08/19/09