The National Flight Academy, in Pensacola, Florida, is an in-residence immersive learning program that puts students from across the country in the role of experimental pilots, flight controllers, and mission planners for a multi-day mission incorporating elements of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Students visiting the National Flight Academy stay on-board the U.S.S. Ambition, a facility designed to feel, sound, and act like an aircraft carrier, from the staterooms the pilots are housed in, to the state-of-the-art Joint Operations and Joint Intelligence Centers, to the massive hangar bay equipped with thirty networked simulators.
Visit the National Flight Academy website for more information.
Fly Experimental Aircraft
Pilots at the National Flight Academy will have the chance to learn and fly the X-12 Triad, an experimental aircraft developed entirely for this experience. From basic aeronautics to complicated aerial maneuvers and vertical landings, the student pilots will find the flight experience both challenging and rewarding.
Additionally, pilots will have the opportunity to fly multiple experimental remotely-controlled vehicles from the Joint Operations Center, including a prototype UCAV and a refueling tanker drone.
Immersive Story-Driven Missions
From the word “go,” pilots at the National Flight Academy will be immersed in the story of life onboard Ambition, supported by multimedia, architecture, sound effects, and staff. This theme-park experience is in support of the aviation challenges the students will face as they learn to plan and fly.
As the students live through their experience – up to three to five days’ worth – they can find themselves playing a part in a much larger challenge as they race against the elements and the clock to save lives in a calamitous sea disaster.