On August 3, 2017, Senior Airman Aaron Garner, a crew chief with the 193rd Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Middletown, Pennsylvania, and full-time student at Harrisburg Area Community College, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, led his HACC hydraulics class on a tour of an EC-130J Commando Solo.
The reason for the tour was to show real-life applications of fluid power as they relate to aviation. The goal of the tour was to show the students basic hydraulic components discussed in class in a real life application, such as landing gear and flight controls.
“I’m excited to share this experience with classmates who haven’t had this type of real world application of hydraulics,” said Garner.
This was the first HACC class to tour an EC-130J Commando Solo, which included 5 other students and the professor.
“This is a very unique opportunity to see aviation and hydraulics first hand,” said Tom Lepp, Professor of Mechatronics at HACC. “It’s great for them to actually be able to make connections from the classroom to real world.”