While three of Godby High School teacher Col. Jeff Spraggins’ aviation students hovered a drone over a ping-pong table last week, the 30-year veteran Air Force pilot and instructor explained how technology affects how he trains future pilots.
“The big change is the cockpit displays,” Spraggins said. “The basics of flying haven’t changed at all, the automation and management of the systems have changed.”
Spraggins vividly recalls when GPS was implemented in flight — and how awesome a development it was.
He graduated from Reese Air Force Base in Texas in the mid-80s after attending Auburn University in his native Alabama. Following three overseas tours with the U.S. Air Force, the last of which was as an air attaché in Bolivia — a diplomatic post generally held by high-ranking officers — Spraggins returned to Reese AFB as a pilot instructor.
“They’d come in fresh out of their civilian training, with very little hours, and we’d train them to be a military pilot in one year,” he said of the rewarding experience of being a flight instructor.
These days, Spraggins has traded Reese for the halls of Godby High School, where a unique partnership has grown into an impressively comprehensive program and a student favorite.
The Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality (OEV) is pleased to announce the calendar of events for the 33rd Annual Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week, scheduled to take place from October 3 to 8, 2025. This week-long celebration features workshops and networking opportunities designed to empower entrepreneurs, foster economic growth, and connect participants […]
The Office of Economic Vitality is proud to join Florida State University’s newly formed Magnetic Capital Research Advisory Council, a strategic group of business, industry, finance, and community leaders working to strengthen the region’s position as a global hub for magnetic technologies and innovation. This council will advise FSU’s Office of Research on initiatives that […]