8 Year Old Designs Airplane, Gets Admiral's Attention, is Invited to Tour PAX River NAS

Credit: Timothy Boulay | Date Taken: 06/27/2023
8 year old Nathan Conley, an elementary school student from Falls Church, VA, designs an airplane, sends a letter to the Navy, and gets the attention of Rear Adm. John Lemmon. The Admiral is so impressed that he invites Nathan and his family for a VIP tour of PAX River Naval Air Station on June 27th, 2023 Story Text: A rising fourth grader got the VIP treatment at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Thanks to his ideas for the future of Naval Aviation. So a couple of months ago we had a letter come in to the office. Nathan Conley's proposal for a new aircraft landed on Rear Admiral John Lemmon's desk. He had provided a table of contents with engine information, gas storage information, cockpit information, landing gear, information, all the design information, the materials, he’s got information here on a weapon. And he named it the F 43 Goshawk. You must be Nathan. Yep. How are you doing, buddy? Good! Admiral Lemmon was so impressed he invited Conley and his parents to tour base facilities run by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. The Falls Church, Virginia family met with Admiral Lemmon and several other high ranking leaders. When Admiral Lemmon showed me your paper, It was just amazing. I was just explaining to Test Pilot School and he's shared with me some more work he's been up to here. Keep up the great work, ok? Ok. Then they got a bird's eye view from the air traffic control tower. Look a little bit to the right, you’ll see a red flashing light. From there, Nathan took the controls of a simulator at the Naval Test Pilot School. And toured a hangar full of aircraft he’d only read about. So we have this wall which moves. The family also toward the anechoic chamber, a hangar where engineers do electromagnetic testing. So this is going to be your throttle. Nathan also got into another simulator. This one showed him what it was like to hover in an F-35 fighter jet. Nathan Hawk Connelly successfully hovered in F-35b at Manned Flight Simulator NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. And I signed it. Thank you. That's awesome. From there, he got up close and personal with the F-35, the jet he says he'd like to fly someday. Admiral Lemmon also presented Nathan with an official looking manual for the F-43 Goshawk. The admiral says meeting Nathan gives him a renewed sense of purpose. We always wonder what's going on with our children or eventually our grandchildren. What's the future of our country? So just seeing that level of enthusiasm warms your heart.