Institutes

Choctaw Aviation Teacher To Go Weightless
  November 3, 2005

Rick Soria in his classroom plane. The Choctaw Aviation Institute teacher is gearing up for a weightless flight this Saturday.

Rick Soria can hardly contain his excitement. The Choctaw Aviation Institute teacher has been selected by the Florida Space Research Insitute (FSRI) to go on a Zero-G flight Saturday, Nov. 5, experiencing weightlessness just like astronauts do in training. "I always wanted to be an astronaut," he said, "but I didn't do the right things in school."

He now dedicates his considerable energy to making sure that his students do the right things to open themselves up to the many exciting career possibilities in the aviation field.

Soria's passion for aviation caught the attention of the local Air Force Association (AFA) chapter at Hurlburt Field who named him their chapter's Teacher of the Year. He then went on to win the AFA's Teacher of the Year award for the entire state of Florida.

FSRI selected him as one of only three Florida teachers to fly in the specially-built Zero-G aircraft as part of their mission to encourage interest in aerospace technology.

"This unique experience will not only reward these outstanding teachers, but also provide them with an opportunity to motivate their students to study and pursue careers in Florida's aerospace industry," said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance, an astronaut on two Space Shuttle science missions.

Zero-G is a privately owned company with specially equipped aircraft that fly at high speeds (about 500 mph) in a parabola-shaped flight pattern. As the aircraft reaches the top of the parabola, it dips its nose slightly and descends at the same speed that gravity would take it. The effect is the same as weightlessness and lasts for about 25 seconds. The aircraft then repeats the same pattern, much like a roller coaster, so the participants have multiple opportunities to experience the weightless effect.

Soria's students are almost as excited as he is. They have come up with short experiments for him to perform during the flight. They want to know what happens to M&M's if you throw them into water without gravity. Will the water trap them or will they go through it? How does a gyroscope behave when there is no gravity?

Rick Soria can't wait to find out this Saturday.

For more information about parabolic flight, click here.