Aviation Challenge
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The Aviation Challenge camp located in Huntsville, Alabama is an alternative to the U.S. Space Camp. Aviation challenge is more closely related to fighter aircraft than it is to space. The camp is a military based one that teaches many basic flying skills with in-depth simulators.
[edit] Programs
There are three different age groups at Aviation Challenge, Mach I for children 9-11, Mach II for children 12-14, and Mach III for young adults 15-18. Each program is of increasing difficulty compared to the one before. There are three-day and six-day programs for the Mach I participants, six-day and eight-day for the Mach II participants, and six-day and thirteen-day programs for Mach III.
[edit] Activities
The Mach I trainees use the simplest and easiest to control simulators. They also have a less challenging SEAL OPS mission and a simple Escape & Evasion. They also have the shortest stays on average of all the Aviation Challenge visitors. The Mach II trainees use more advanced simulators that are very similar to those of the Mach I sims. The SEAL OPS mission is more challenging with an even more difficult Escape & Evasion. The Mach II trainees also have more difficult and complex missions and longer stays on average. The Mach III program is the most difficult program of the three. There are more complex simulators that include pull down glass canopies when flying, as well as the traditional pilot and RIO/WSO two person cockpit seating. Mach III also features scored missions with Theater Ops military style breifings where trainees are meticulously inspected before being allowed to enter breifing rooms. They also have a much more intense SEAL OP. Teams must coordiante their individual missions to complete their overall Operation. Captured trainees are taken to a mock POW Camp and put through Interrogation Resistance. The Mach III programs are also the longest with the full days that are spent there spanning over a week. There are many other activities that are done in the camp such as rafting, g force simulators, wilderness survival skills, and flight equipment lectures.
