Elias Bikales Completes Civil Air Patrol Program
Millburn High School student Elias Bikales has completed a Civil Air Patrol program which offers a select group of its cadets the opportunity to train side-by-side with Air Force pilot trainees. Bikales, aged 15 and a rising 10th grader, trained with military flight simulators, pilot oxygen masks, nausea-inducing spinning machines and other intriguing high-tech equipment. The program, held this July at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, is called Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Familiarization Course and gives cadets a one-week taste of what Air Force pilot candidates learn over the course of a year. Thirty-one cadets came to participate from as far away as Alaska and Puerto Rico; Bikales was one of just two participants from the Northeast.
In Civil Air Patrol, Bikales is referred to as Cadet Second Lieutenant Elias Bikales, as he has moved up in rank and become a commissioned cadet officer during his more than three years of membership. His squadron, Curtiss-Wright Composite Squadron, is based at the American Red Cross Building in Fairfield.
Separately, Bikales is working toward a glider pilot license, and hopes to begin learning to fly powered aircraft next year. He may use this summer’s training toward a career in aerospace engineering, civilian or military piloting or other fields with an aviation focus.
Bikales’ other passion is classical music; he is a violist with the Ravina Orchestra based in Columbia High School in Maplewood, as well as with the Millburn High School orchestral program. By sheer coincidence, he was privately tutored by Flora Yousefi for years before she was named head of MHS orchestral education program.
Interested in Civil Air Patrol? The Cadet Program for 12- to 18-year-olds meets every Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. at The American Red Cross Building in Fairfield. Adults can also join CAP to serve the public in Emergency Services and to support the cadet program. For more information about the Civil Air Patrol contact Lt Col Carol McCloud at carol.mccloud@njwg.cap.gov, or visit GoCivilAirPatrol.com.
Courtesy photo
