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  • Mr. Richard F. Doutt
  • Foil: 29 Panel: 2 Column: 2 Line: 11

    Wall of Honor Level:
    Air and Space Sponsor

    Honored by:

    During 1972 I introduced an undergraduate course of Aviation Education - Ground School- to the undergraduate Curriculum Committee at Millersville University, Millersvillle, PA. It was approved as a class offering as part of the Power Technology Program.

    In 1973 the college approved a graduate level summer Aviation Workshop for teachers. A grant from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation provided the opportunity for each student to receive several hours of actual flight experience at a local fixed base operator. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation, under the direction of Rick Childs, felt it was important for the students in the public schools of the state of Pennsylvania be made aware of the importance of aviation in the world today. Additional support was from Robert Smith, Northeast United States Civil Air Patrol and the Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol as well as having US Air Force Reserve Officers assigned to the workshop. Also, The FAA provided many handouts the teachers that could be used in their classroom. Richard Butler, a classroom Science and Aviation teacher in the Abington, Pennsylvania Public Schools, also provide his expertise in obtaining the grant from the Bureau of Aviation, as well as lending his skills as a teacher However, this workshop did not continue at this level after my retirement.

    Millersville University purchased a Link Trainer to supplement the ground school at the undergraduate level as well providing flight simulation to the graduate level students as a supplement to their flight experience.

    From 1980-1986 Dr, Robert Labriola, Director of the Stayer Research and Learning Center at Millersville University, asked me to become part of his curriculum development program for elementary teachers in Pennsylvania. He was interested in providing Aerospace Education experiences to the elementary teachers. I agreed to help him with this undertaking. Of course, this became another added summer program for me to plan and supervise, but I felt it was worth the effort. I started the planning by visiting lva Bailey and Richard Crone at the Educational Programs Office at Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt, Maryland. I arranged to have a Space Mobile Program at each Curriculum Development Workshop. When I began this program, about ten workshops were being conducted. When we added the NASA Spacemobile Programs, the workshops numbered around twenty or so. With additional funding from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation we were able to provide some flight experience to each elementary teacher. The program required additional staff and I obtained the services of Dr. Dalton Smart and Dr. Joseph Abromiatis to take some of the programs. These workshops were expanded to include, besides some flight experience, NASA Space Mobile Sessions, hot air balloons, and rocketry.

    With the help of Robert Smith, NE Civil Air Patrol Region, at times he was able to provide airlifts through Air Force Reserve for the Aviation Workshop and the Curriculum Workshops to places such as Wright-Patterson Airbase Museum and Huntsville, Alabama Space Center.

    My last workshop in Aviation Aerospace Education for teachers was held at the Florida Institute of Technology with students from Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey., Maryland, Rhode Island, New York, and Louisiana. The students visited the Kennedy Space Flight Center and some of the teachers were able to receive a little flying which was provided by Emory Riddle Aviation School.

    Dr. Dalton Smart ran the Stayer Research Program after I retired and the workshops doubled in numbers.

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