Aviation Career Exploring

Post 747

for high school
students

&

Club 707

for middle school
students

San Jose, California, USA

X

Careers

A menu of learning opportunities that our youth-led organization can select from.

Aerial Reconnaissance Analyst

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Zurich Airport's Terminal A, reconstructed from airborne LIDAR data from Swisstopo, Swiss Topographical Institute 21 March 2025 Swisstopo, Swiss Topographical Institute, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
USGS digital orthophoto of Niagara Falls International Airport in New York 28 March 1995 United States Geological Survey (USGS), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Dutchess County Airport (KPOU) in Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York. 18 November 2008 Phillip Capper, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aerial photograph of Copenhagen Airport. 15 May 2019 kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Aerospace Engineer

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

The toothed exhaust-duct covers on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This is N787BA, the airframe that made the maiden flight in December 2009. 15 July 2011 Eric Prado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wing Structure with the skin removed of a DH 60G Gipsy Moth. August 2008 Peripitus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Structure of an aircraft wing : (1) Wing root (2) Spars (3) Ribs (4) Leading edge (5) Trailing edge (6) Wing tip Own work based on the F-102 Cross Drawing published on Wikimedia Commons by Marcin Zieliński 30 November 2006 Marcin Zieliński, Groumfy69, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Aircraft Dealer

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Air Traffic Controller

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Air traffic controllers direct air and ground operations atop the new air traffic control tower June 11, 2013, at Pope Field, N.C. The new tower is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certified, stands 11-stories tall and boasts more than 9,000 square feet of internal space. (U.S. Air Force illustration/Tech. Sgt. Peter R. Miller) 11 June 2013 Tech. Sgt. Peter R. Miller / U.S. Air Force, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Air Traffic Management EcoSystem 15 September 2015 Honeywell International, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) Mechanic

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Diagram of a typical gas turbine jet engine (in English). Air is compressed by the fan blades as it enters the engine, and it is mixed and burned with fuel in the combustion section. The hot exhaust gases provide forward thrust and turn the turbines which drive the compressor fan blades. 16 December 2007 Jeff Dahl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
J79-IHI-11A turbojet engine(cutaway model) exhaust section & nozzle right rear view at JASDF Hamamatsu Air Base Publication Center 24 November 2014 Hunini, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Werner Von Braun standing next to the five F-1 engines of a Saturn V first stage. A pioneer of America's space program, Dr. von Braun stands by the five F-1 engines of the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Designed and developed by Rocketdyne under the direction of the Marshall Space Flight Center, a cluster of five F-1 engines was mounted on the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage. The engines measured 19-feet tall by 12.5-feet at the nozzle exit and burned 15 tons of liquid oxygen and kerosene each second to produce 7,500,000 pounds of thrust. The S-IC stage is the first stage, or booster, of a 364-foot long rocket that ultimately took astronauts to the Moon. Unknown date. Probably 1969 NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Airbus A350-941 (reg. F-WWCF, MSN 002) main landing gear at ILA Berlin Air Show 2016. 2 June 2016 Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Airline Manager

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Airport Architect, Civil Engineer or Structural Engineer

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

The original Dublin Airport terminal building was designed in the International Style by a team of architects in the Office of Public Works led by Desmond FitzGerald. The design was more or less complete by 1937 and the building was finished in 1940. The design team comprised Kevin Barry, Daithi Hanley, Charles Aliaga Kelly, Dermot O'Toole, and Harry Robson. The viewing balconies which look out over the runways west of the building were open to the public for the first few decades of its life, but were closed eventually for security reasons. Crowds filled the balconies when the Beatles arrived for their first concert in Ireland on 7 November 1963, and when the first Boeing 747 and Concorde flights arrived in Ireland (on 6 March 1971 and 1 October 1983, respectively). The terminal has been restored and is used as offices and departure gates. 19 April 2009 © O'Dea at Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Baku Airport Terminal 2 6 September 2025 Xoqoni Said, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Main Terminal of Washington Dulles International Airport at dusk in Virginia, USA. 30 August 2011 Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
View of the terminal at Kraków Airport 15 August 2024 Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Night view of the new terminal at Split Airport. 1 September 2019 Ballota, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, USA in early 2015. The Airtrain tracks are in the foreground. The present JetBlue Terminal 5 is behind. 13 January 2015 Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, USA 13 January 2015 Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tang-inspired architecture in Xi’an Xianyang International Airport Terminal 5 23 February 2025 Jiasheng669, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Model of the new Terminal of the Gdansk Airport Lech Walesa which shall be opened in 2012. 28 December 2009 Schlaier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Beijing Daxing International Airport rendering by Zaha Hadid Architects 17 January 2019 王之桐, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aerial view of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta (edited horizon). The view taken in 1 February 2010 from Garuda Indonesia airplane during take-off. The architecture reflect Indonesian vernacular architecture of Javanese Joglo roof with Pendopo as gate lounges (waiting hall) surrounded with tropical gardens. 1 February 2010 Gunawan Kartapranata, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Airport Administration

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Avionic Technician

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

The Air Launch Cruise Missile (ALCM) offensive Avionics System in the lower deck area of a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft from the 92nd Bombing Wing 30 May 1984 SSGT Bob Simons, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Martlet 3 was a rocket prototype built by the Cambridge University Spaceflight project. The flight control instruments were distributed across many circular boards, stacked inside the narrow cylindrical rocket body. 29 July 2016 Adam Greig from Cambridge, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Interior Designer / User Experience Designer

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Panorama of the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina 23 January 2010 Martin St-Amant (S23678), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Terminal 4 of the airport Madrid-Barajas, Spain 9 January 2013 Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jewel Changi Airport is a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex surrounded by and linked to one of the passenger terminals of Changi Airport, Singapore. 16 August 2023 Tslai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Terminal E of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, seen from a slightly elevated point on the stairs. 27 May 2019 This Photo was taken by Supanut Arunoprayote., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
TWA Flight Center, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, NY 3 August 2019 Warren LeMay from Cullowhee, NC, United States, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
TWA Flight Center, JFK Airport, NYC. 3 August 2019 w_lemay, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Investigator

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Packaging Engineer

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Chris Kerlee, a loadmaster at Atlas Air, loads cargo onto a Boeing 747 transport aircraft at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C., July 8, 2016. Approximately 300 U.S. Airmen and 12 F-16 Fighting Falcon jets from the 169th Fighter Wing at McEntire JNGB, S.C., are deploying to Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, as the 157th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron in support of the U.S. Pacific Command Theater Security Package. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Megan Floyd) Unit: 169th Fighter Wing DVIDS Tags: PACAF; South Korea; South Carolina; S.C.; Pacific Air Forces; Pacific Command; TSP; PACOM; cargo load; Republic of Korea; deployment; Eastover; 169th Fighter Wing; McEntire Joint National Guard Base; South Carolina Air National Guard; SCANG; Boeing 747; Theater Security Package; S.C. Air National Guard; S.C. Air Guard 8 July 2016 Airman 1st Class Megan Floyd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Cargo aircraft Boeing 747-400F loading cargo on Václav Havel Airport Prague, Czech Republic 11 October 2015 Karelj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pago Pago, AS, October 13, 2009 -- Mark Ackerman (in navy blue shirt), Federal Emergency Management Agency Staging Area Manager, oversees the unloading of generators from the Antonov AN-225 cargo plane. The cargo plane is the largest in the world and carried generators contracted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist the island with electrical power restoration. Casey Deshong/FEMA 13 October 2009 Casey Deshong, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Toll 737 aircraft with staff in the main deck ready for loading freight 28 November 2012 Toll Group, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chris Kerlee, a loadmaster at Atlas Air, waits to load cargo onto a Boeing 747 transport aircraft at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C., July 8, 2016. Approximately 300 U.S. Airmen and 12 F-16 Fighting Falcon jets from the 169th Fighter Wing at McEntire JNGB, S.C., are deploying to Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, as the 157th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron in support of the U.S. Pacific Command Theater Security Package. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Megan Floyd) Unit: 169th Fighter Wing DVIDS Tags: PACAF; South Korea; South Carolina; S.C.; Pacific Air Forces; Pacific Command; TSP; PACOM; cargo load; Republic of Korea; deployment; Eastover; 169th Fighter Wing; McEntire Joint National Guard Base; South Carolina Air National Guard; SCANG; Boeing 747; Theater Security Package; S.C. Air National Guard; S.C. Air Guard 8 July 2016 Airman 1st Class Megan Floyd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo of aircraft container and pallet loader showing its numerous powered rollers for shifting and rotation of containers. Taken in Hong Kong International Airport. Zoom to the Mecanum wheels. 8 July 2013 Photograph: Jamesshliu Derivative work: Jahobr, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Boeing 757 DHL Loading cargo 14 July 2011 Curimedia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo showing a ULD loader lifting a ULD from apron dollies level to aircraft cargo bay level. Unit Load Device (ULD) is standardized size air cargo container. All are apron Ground support equipment. 13 June 2014 Jamesshliu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pilot, Commercial Manned

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Young Eagles, Reid Hillview Airport, San Jose, CA October 2025
Young Eagles, Reid Hillview Airport, San Jose, CA October 2025

Pilot, Commercial Unmanned (UAV, Drone)

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Transportation & Logistics Planner

Hand-on Activities

Potential Tours

Potential Guest Speakers

Airport Police, Federal Air Marshall, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Federal Flight Deck Officer

Consider joining one of the following Law Enforcement Explorer Posts

Airport Firefighter

Consider joining one of the following Fire Explorer Posts