The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) members from Florida Wing Civil Air Patrol (FLWG) Group 7 participated in the South Florida Aviator Fly-In and Educational Exposition (SAFEE). The exposition is currently in its seventh consecutive year at the Signature Flight Support hanger in the Miami Opa Locka Executive Airport.
The first day of the event on Friday, April 20, billed as SAFEE K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Day, members from Miami Senior Squadron One manned the static display of the CAP aircraft and the recruiting table, and played hosts to more than 2,000 students of the Miami-Dade and Broward school systems, who had been bussed in for the event.
The second day was open to the public, and featured an aviation career fair with $25 discovery flights, drone exhibits, flight simulators, a touch and go flying competition, fly-in and aircraft displays, food trucks and a family fun zone. These activities were supported by 38 seniors and cadets from Group 7 Headquarters, Senior Squadron One, Opa-Locka Cadet Squadron, Tamiami Composite Squadron and Homestead ARB Cadet Squadron.
Before being dispatched to their duty stations for the event, CAP members were briefed by the Group 7 Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Luis Negron. They were then assigned to different positions around the event, to the recruiting table, aircraft guard duty, flight simulator mentoring, drone demonstration crowd control, kid zone monitoring and ancillary tasks as requested by the SAFEE administration.
As the event ended, Cadet Master Sergeant Michael Kamaritis of the Opa-Locka Cadet Squadron said, “This is an outstanding event for CAP cadets to attend. Besides having fun, we explored learning opportunities, future career options, and practical aerospace education. We also gained leadership experience and earned community service hours.”