A group of students and faculty, led by Professor Tom Filburn of the Mechanical, Aerospace, and Acoustical Engineering department, visited Barnes Air National Guard Base up in Westfield, Mass., on Friday, Sept. 20.
The group were treated to a tour of the base and the F-15 by US Air Force Academy graduate Captain John "Space" Stout. The tour was very in depth and included a 45 minute Q&A session with "Space" to talk about the students' current Aerospace Engineering design problem: designing a homeland interceptor aircraft. Getting up close and personal with the F-15, being able to see them take off, and spend time talking with a pilot who flies these planes was a unique and valuable experience for these students. They will be taking everything they learned back to the classroom to incorporate into their design of a new aircraft.
We would like to express our gratitude to Captain Stout for his tour and time and to Captain Filburn of the Mass. Air National Guard for helping to facilitate the visit.