On Saturday October 17, 2015 the University of Oklahoma’s Max Westheimer’s airport had its 9^th annual Aviation Festival. This event is an open house of the aviation department, along with pilots and business’s from around the region. They bring in planes for the public to see. There were tours of the air traffic control tower as well as a children’s hangar put on by Sooner Flight Academy.

I had the opportunity to volunteer for the event and represent the aviation department. It was a fantastic experience to see Norman residents and OU students get up close and personal to planes and helicopters. Children were even able to climb in the cockpits and experience what a pilot sees. The University even brought the Sooner Schooner out so kids could take pictures! Many other departments came to show off, like the police K9 unit, the National Weather Center, and even the U.S. Army. It was incredible to see the Norman community come together and have OU be the center of it all!

I have been part of the OU culture for 4 years now, and I love how diverse it is. Not many other universities can say that they have their own airport. Especially one that has a festival where anyone can come and see the Norman and OU community come together to celebrate aviation. I encourage all OU students to come to the next festival to see how awesome just one small part of the University is!

Anthony Losole

Aviation Management

Coppell, TX