EAA Air Academy students enjoy the speedy new Dell computers donated to EAA by Intel and Microsoft. Photo by Ric Reynolds

Will Burchfield of Webster Groves, Missouri, has played with flight simulator programs before, but nothing like what he experienced Tuesday morning at the EAA Leadership Center. "This is way cool; it’s phenomenal!" he said, as his virtual Boeing 747 lifted off at Boeing Field in Seattle portrayed on the screen.

Will and about 20 other youths from the EAA Air Academy were each piloting aircraft using Flight Simulator 10 on brand new, screamin’ Dell computers recently donated by computer industry giants Intel and Microsoft. The donation consists of 28 top-of-the-line Dell XPS 710 towers, powered by the just-released Core 2 Duo chips equipped with quad core processors, Nvidia 8800 video cards and Dell 24-inch flat-screen monitors. Along with other accessories, the total donation amounts to about $150,000 worth of heavy-duty circuitry.

"This all came together earlier this year," said Bob Campbell, EAA director of museum and resident education. "They basically called and said, ‘What do you need?’ Our previous equipment was about five years old, unable to take full advantage of the features in the newest Microsoft Flight Simulator program (FSX). This equipment takes our program to another level."

Brett Schnepf, Microsoft’s community and partner development manager, said the company’s Flight Sims team and its ongoing relationship with EAA and its youth education efforts presented an opportunity to put together the donation with Intel. "It’s an obvious partnership," he said. "These are the first Quad Core systems on the market, and all you need to do is watch the kids play with them. We’re thrilled to be able to pull this opportunity together with Intel for EAA, and the systems already have the capability to handle future upgrades."

During the Tuesday flight session, Will and the others got the added thrill of meeting Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, who stopped by to meet and greet the students. Snodgrass is the legendary Top Gun pilot who flew more F-14 missions than anyone else, and was also a Top Gun instructor.

Not all the donated computers are at the Leadership Center; Microsoft’s exhibit located at the main entrance of Hangar B features several of them set up with FSX loaded and ready for attendees to try them out. After AirVenture, the machines will join the others at the Leadership Center.

And youths who attend the various EAA Air Academies and other educational programs will be flying on state-of-the-art desktop systems for the foreseeable future.