COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Aerospace Engineering students from Mississippi State University got the chance to apply the concepts they learned in the classroom in a real-world environment during a tour April 12 on Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
The students started their tour off with a wing mission brief, detailing the mission of the 14th Flying Training Wing. From there, they went on to the BLAZE hangar to see maintenance being done on the T-38C Talons.
“I thought the maintenance shop was interesting because we learn about the basics of the engine like compressor stages, combustors, turbine, and all but we don’t get into pressure regulators and all the manifolds that go into it and the person who gave us the tour of the maintenance shop knew every single component of it,” said Joseph Brown, MSU student.
Following the maintenance shop, the tour group went to the propulsions shop and the T-38C Talon engine test cell.
“My favorite part was getting to see the engine,” said Amy Sanford, MSU student. “Experiencing the pressure difference and getting to feel that rather than watching it from behind a glass was neat.”
Donning protective gear, all of the students had the opportunity to stand near the engine in the T-38C test cell.
“I thought it was really great to see how alive the Air Force base really is,” said Rachel McFalls-Brown, Mississippi State University student. “I’ve never been on base before to actually see what is going on on-base, and I have never gotten to see the inner workings of it. It was really cool to see how alive it all was and how much really goes into it.”