Learners will come away with a sense of our world in 1916 or 1943, and a wide variety of knowledge regarding WWI and WWII history in the United States, the UK, Russia and Germany - as well as a newfound love for teamwork, problem-solving, and communicating with others.

Week One:  The Spitfire IXe
The Spitfire was much loved by pilots because of its simplicity and effectiveness, and thus it makes an excellent beginner aircraft for us as well.  This will serve, in many ways, as our ground school as we learn what makes an aircraft tick - the basics of aerodynamics, the principles of flight, and how a flight evolves.  From there, we'll go over what makes the Spitfire stand out, its strengths and weaknesses, and finally... get into the air.  We'll discuss the "Pattern" of take off and landing, and then do a cross country flight from one air field to another using VFR or visual flight rules - students will help navigate so we don't get lost and have to land in Bob's field somewhere.

Week Two:  The P47D Thunderbolt
While the Spitfire from week one was a pleasure to fly, the P47 was a bit of a nightmare.  Well loved by it's pilots, the thing was essentially a huge engine with wings.  This week we'll take a look at engine management which sounds terribly boring until we start to see what happens when you DON'T talk about it.  We'll also break off into mini-discussions of rationing, manufacturing, and the dismal state of affairs leading up to WWII and the production of this aircraft.  If we're able to get this big lug to fly, we'll also take the opportunity to do a bit of "Train Hunting," a favorite pass time of P47 pilots as they disrupted supply lines.

Week Three:  The Fokker Dr.1 Triplane
All of these years later and we all know about the Red Baron.  From pizza to Snoopy himself, Manfred von Richthofen and his bright red triplane are staples of aviation history.  But... what made that aircraft so impressive?  Why was he able to rack up 80 victories in such a short period of time?  We'll take a ride in the wayback machine, rewinding time to twenty years before WWII in order to take a look at how aviation progressed with a look at the Dr.1.  It will seem very simple now that we've seen other aircraft in action, and yet by slowing down a bit, we'll be able to apply some of the fundamentals that we've learned.  We'll also get into our very first Furball - aerial combat!  

Week Four:  The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger "Butcher Bird"
Back to the skies above Europe!  The Fw190 was a beast made with one thing in mind, to absolutely destroy British bombers as they made their way over the English Channel and into German occupied territory.  Doing so, however, was no easy proposition.  We'll talk about armament, the advent of the 20mm cannon, and advances in aviation technology made in an amazingly short amount of time - and why German was consistently able to produce (and out produce) their enemies when it came to both numbers of aircraft and superior technologies.  Our flight will see us attack several formations of bombers to see how we're able to do against the best that Britain has to offer before they can drop their bombs!

Week Next:  A New Aircraft
That's it?  Believe me, it will go fast.  There's so much learning to do, and yet, it's so much fun along the way.  Just about the time that you feel like you've learned one thing, there will be another... however, you needn't despair.  You can enroll in Enter the Furball as many times as you like to explore more and more gorgeous and vicious WWII aircraft!

I have more than a decade of teaching experience, the majority of which was spent as an instructor in a lock-down rehabilitation facility for at-risk children (translated: gang kids who were struggling with substance abuse).  This allowed me to teach a wide variety of subjects, from second grade reading to college level physics, often in the same day in order to meet the needs of my students. 

My emphasis throughout was teamwork, discipline, leadership, and problem solving - as these form the braided cord that carries all through our lives.  My formal education is centered around a masters degree in elementary education, and another in special education - with a bachelors in philosophy and a minor in glass art... yes, that's right.  Glass.  Art.  My mother was thrilled when I told her about that one.

I started flying when I was sixteen and then promptly ran out of money to pay for AvGas.  That, however, did not stop me because what I lacked in money, I made up for in imagination - and a new computer that my parents got me for Christmas.  I’ve been enjoying flight simulators since they were literally stick framework programs, and I do to this day.  If my hours on flight simulators counted, I’d have enough to get an upgrade on the first Mars mission.  (Incidentally, I’ve also taught exactly this sort of thing for a company called iEN.)

The vast majority of the sources for this class will be derived from Alexander McKee's excellent text:  The Friendless Sky, The Story of Air Combat in WWI.  However, because we will spend a great amount of time in the air transiting from one area to another - we will also draw from the student's experience, and tell a great many air combat stories from the ages.  

And, because the very act of flying an aircraft is an exercise in physics, we will touch on a number of the principles of flight - most of these directly from the self same title by Dr. Stephen Walmsley.