Ethan Seeler of Bristol, a two-time ACE Academy graduate, proudly displays his cutoff shirttail signifying his first solo flight recently. Student pilot Ethan celebrated his sixteenth birthday with his solo flight. Cutting off a solo flyer’s shirttail is a time honored aviation tradition to mark the happy occasion.
Ethan Seeler of Bristol, a two-time ACE Academy graduate, proudly displays his cutoff shirttail signifying his first solo flight recently. Student pilot Ethan celebrated his sixteenth birthday with his solo flight. Cutting off a solo flyer’s shirttail is a time honored aviation tradition to mark the happy occasion. Credit: Courtesy

The Board of WinnAero, the STEM educational non-profit based at the Laconia Airport, recently met to plan for the return of their popular summer ACE Academy day camps. The camps, one week in duration and divided by age groups of students, were forced to cancel last summer due to COVID. This summer’s schedule will take place at the airport in July, COVID restrictions permitting. Among the wide range of aviation/aerospace topics to be covered in various sessions are rocketry, drones, flying procedures, flight safety, manufacturing, engineering, airborne search and  rescue techniques, air traffic control, astronomy, spacecraft and space station design.

President Karen Mitchell, a STEM educator and pilot said, “WinnAero is so happy to be gearing up for the ACE Academies once again. We missed seeing the students last summer but the support and enthusiasm from students, families, ACE faculty and the aviation community have been so encouraging during our down time. We’re planning three one- week sessions in July divided by a student’s grade level; elementary school, middle school and high school. Our ACE attendees will be inspired to see themselves as problem solvers and creative collaborators as they’re challenged to reach new heights….literally.”

The tentative schedule of the individual sessions are July 5-9, July 12- 16 and July 19-23. Age breakouts, times, registration information, tuition and main theme subject matter for each session are available on the WinnAero website, winnaero.org. Families with more questions are encouraged to reach out to the WinnAero Educational Director, Dan Caron, at dan.caron@winnaero.org.