The Year 10 STEM/Aerospace class went on an excursion at the end of last term to visit Qantas Hangar 3, Aviation Australia, and the Brisbane Airport Corporation.
Their tour at QANTAS gave them a rundown of the history of the space and a walk through the workshop where they explored the bowels of an aircraft with the gear wheel bay and centerline fuel tank. The students were then taken topside and got to sit in the cockpit, and got some cool hats to take home.
After Qantas, the students visited Aviation Australia. Their first stop at AA was the Rotary Wing Hangar, followed by a walk through an MD-82 aircraft, which was not flyable but still able to be powered up and used for trade training. The plane used to be one of Clive Palmer’s old mining executive jets, which was reflected in the white leather chairs with gold trim.
Finally, the students were taken into the Flight Safety Training Centre, where they were able to see how flight attendants train in a wide-body cabin mockup. They got to experience a laptop fire simulation in an overhead locker, and later, the whole area was completely fogged, which they report was very disorientating! They were also shown what flight attendants do to prepare for a ditching.
They finished off the day with a Brisbane Airport Corporation perimeter tour.
