Reporters invited to cover high-tech helicopter demonstration at 106th Rescue Wing STEM Camp on Thursday, August 1

Media Advisory

Westhampton Beach, New York (07/29/2024) — Sikorsky Aircraft, the company that makes the helicopters flown by the New York Air Guard's 106th Rescue Wing, will demonstrate an aircraft that can be flown without a pilot during the Wing's STEM camp on August 1, at F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base.

Members of the press are invited to visit the camp that day and cover the demonstration.

WHO: 40 local high school students, Sikorsky personnel, and Airmen of the 106th Rescue Wing.

WHAT: A demonstration by Sikorsky of the S-76 Optionally Piloted Vehicle for the high school students attending the STEM camp. The aircraft, developed by Sikorsky and the Defense Research Advanced Projects Agency, or DARPA, can be flown by a computer tablet by a pilot on board or on the ground.

The demonstration is one of many event highlights of the 2024 STEM camp which runs from August 1 to 4.

WHEN: 8:30 a.m., August 1, 2024.

WHERE: F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, 150 Riverhead Road, Westhampton Beach, N.Y. 11950

Coverage opportunities:

Media will be able to obtain still and video images of the demonstration and speak to students attending the STEM camp and 106th Airmen.

Reporters who wish to cover the demonstration must contact Capt. Cheran Campbell by email at cheran.campbell@us.af.mil. NO LATER THAN 5 p.m. July 30.

For entrance to the base, please include your full name, news agency, date of birth, state I.D. number and state (if not N.Y.) and a cellphone number.

BACKGROUND:

The 106th Rescue Wing STEM Camp lets local high school students look at the technology 106th Rescue Wing Airmen use daily to conduct their mission. The students learn with practical, team-oriented hands-on exercises.

Each instruction block will contribute to a portion of a capstone mission using 106th Rescue Wing aircraft and personnel.

Students will engage with personnel and equipment from the operations, maintenance, and mission support groups, focusing on areas such as aerodynamics, physics, mathematics, information technology, and engineering.

SIKORSKY S-76

The SR-76 is a civilian version of the military's Black Hawk UH-60. The SR-76 OPV flew for the first time in 2019.

The HH-60 rescue helicopters used by the 106th Rescue Wing are also based on the UH-60 airframe.

THE 106TH RESCUE WING

The 106th Rescue Wing (106 RQW) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. We operate and maintains the HC-130J Combat King II, the HH-60G Pave Hawk and the HH-60W Jolly Green II search and rescue aircraft. Our mission is to provide worldwide Personnel Recovery, Combat Search and Rescue Capability, Expeditionary Combat Support, and Civil Search and Rescue Support to Federal and State authorities. We provide Personnel Recovery to the state of New York and deployed operations that we are tasked to support.

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