St. Pete Clearwater International Airport Field-trip

 

We had a great field-trip to the airport. We got to explore a UPS plane. I enjoyed sitting in the cockpit and seeing all the controls.

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The cargo part of the plane was amazing. It was huge. They told us that this was the smallest of the cargo planes in their fleet. We liked checking out the rollers and learning hot the containers packed with packages are loaded and sent off.

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We also got a tour of the airport firetruck. It is much different than a normal fire truck. We learned that this fire truck will respond off site as well to accidents if they are the closest unit. It has 4 minutes of water on board plus foam and gear for dealing with very high temperature airplane fires.

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The fire truck gave us a water solute as it drove away. IMG_2667

We also had a class on the principles of flight. I knew the material and was bored with this part of the program but I stuck with it. DSCN0322

The end of the field trip took us through the new exit pods at the airport. It is supposed to be a long term money saving way to exit the terminals. The first door closes behind you and you wait for the second to open. If the machine detects anything left in the pot (even a penny) the pod won’t reopen the first door. This is to keep people from sneaking into the terminals.

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We also saw the classic Beinoist airplane that hangs in the lobby.

 

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What a great field trip.