Flight Expert: Colonel Redman

On November 16, we had the privilege of hosting Colonel Redman.  He graduated from the US Air Force Academy and spent his entire career flying bomber jets, eventually retiring as a full-bird Colonel a few years ago.  His family has lived at various points around the country, and now live in Prattville. Colonel Redman has a PhD from Duke University and currently teaches at the Air War College at Maxwell.

He focused on answering 3 main questions we had during his visit:

1. What does an Air Force pilot do (vs a commercial pilot)?

2. What is it like to be a pilot?

3. How do you become a pilot in the Air Force?

He showed us his flight suits - and explained why they are two different colors

He had a few videos to show us - one of the stealth bomber in flight

He showed us the flight helmet he wears when flying trainer and fighter jets:

We also got a chance to try on his flight gloves.

The kids did a great job documenting their new learning and following up with some of the questions they had developed prior to his visit.

Colonel Redman demonstrated the importance of G-suits and centrifugal force. 

Here are his G-suit pants.

Before he left, the whole class got to see all the items he brought.