BRODHEAD — The Kelch Aviation Museum at Brodhead Airport has received the donation of a flight simulator from the Students in Aviation Foundation (SIA) in Baraboo. The simulator is a Linux-based gaming computer running X-Plane, with a 56-inch monitor and full flight controls. It can be used for various levels of flight training from students to commercial pilots.
“Everyone who visits the museum is curious about actually piloting a plane,” said Patrick Weeden, Executive Director. “Short of putting you in an actual airplane for a lesson, this is the best way to give people that real experience, on any experience level.”
Education, and making seemingly out-of-reach aviation opportunities accessible to everyone, are core values in the Kelch Aviation Museum’s mission. Open since July 2021, the nonprofit museum is entirely admission-free, and offers year-round activities including fly-in events for pilots, family-oriented open houses, school tours, historic presentations, and an annual big-band “back in time” dance. The museum is entirely funded through charitable donations, and maintains an airworthy fleet of real 1930s airplanes, a research library, and an extensive artifact collection.
In the weeks the simulator has been installed in the Kelch Aviation Museum, both grade school students and commercial pilots have taken advantage of the training potential. At a recent holiday event, 10-year-olds learned basic flight controls, steering, and navigating while “flying” a small Cessna. The very next day, a professional pilot took the controls to brush up on the avionics system in the airliner he’ll be flying next month.
“It’s real flight training — and yes, of course it’s fun too. I like flying it too,” Weeden said. “We’re grateful to SIA for making access to such a high-quality simulator as easy as walking into the museum.”
The SIA Foundation, Inc. is a volunteer-run, Wisconsin based 501(c)(3) charity founded in 2016 by Joe Canepa, a commercial, instrument, and multi-engine flight instructor. SIA supports aviation education in hands-on ways, by providing a free online ground school for K-12 schools and students, offering full flight training scholarships for students who qualify, and providing simulators — “SIAsims” — to schools and organizations. The first SIASim donated to any K-12 district is always free of charge; should a school wish to expand flight training resources, SIA will arrange for additional simulators below cost.
As of October 2024, over 45 simulators have been donated to K-12 schools across the country, $30,000 in scholarships provided, and over 100 students trained with SIA’s ground schools, all at no cost to the students. Canepa’s company, “Lynx Transportation Software” aka Ryte Byte, Inc., donates 95% of the foundation’s annual funding; charitable donations make up the rest of the budget.
X-Plane software was first released in 1995, and remains the top realistic flight simulator commercially available enjoyed by pilots, gamers, and aviation enthusiasts around the globe. Extremely realistic, everything in X-Plane operates from real world physics, while the software’s aircraft handling, adjustable wind and weather conditions, and realistic avionics systems mimic real-world flight. The software includes all worldwide airports, so a user can “fly” anywhere with accurate airport layouts; the museum’s simulator is specially equipped with detailed Wisconsin scenery for fun local flying. Users can also select different aircraft, from airliners to small airplanes, allowing for specific, realistic training.
The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
SIA’s website is www.StudentsInAviation.org.
Kelch Aviation Museum’s website is www.kelchmuseum.org.
