Rick Baily loves airplanes.

You can hear it in the tenor of his voice when he talks about them at the exhibit he helped bring to the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana.

That exhibit, Above and Beyond: The Ultimate Interactive Flight Exhibition, will be showcasing Boeing technology until Sept. 10 at the science center at 2500 N. Main St.

Baily, 59, of Huntington Beach, spent about 38 years working on aerospace technology with Boeing, the last 14 of those at the Huntington Beach facility.

After retiring in June, the former executive, who serves on the board of Discovery Cube, now sees a major issue in the field of aerospace engineering: The world needs more engineers.

He believes more children need to be educated in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, to attract more people to the enterprise of aircraft design and technology.

Particularly, Baily believes the best way to teach kids about aerospace is to get them interacting, which is a focus of the exhibit.

Kevin Chang | Daily Pilot

Rick Baily of Huntington Beach, a former Boeing executive, helped bring Above and Beyond: The Ultimate Interactive Flight Exhibition to the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana.

Rick Baily of Huntington Beach, a former Boeing executive, helped bring Above and Beyond: The Ultimate Interactive Flight Exhibition to the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana. (Kevin Chang | Daily Pilot)

One of Bailys favorite attractions is a flight simulator where kids can stand in front of a screen that shows the flight of a flock of birds. The visitors can put their arms out and control the flight path as a sensor traces their movements.

Baily said it teaches kids the basic principles of flight, including what creates lift and drag.

Jackson Bumgarner, 7, of Santa Clarita said the ride was really cool and he learned how air flows under and over a plane.

Another favorite of Bailys is a exhibit that shows the damage that can be caused during impacts in the air by dropping a heavy piece of metal onto plane material.

The display mirrors Bailys own career, as his last job at Boeing was to lead tests and evaluations on aircraft.

If you saw what we did to an airplane before its flight tested, nobody would ever worry about getting on an airplane again, he said. We torture these airplanes to make them safe.

Kids can then use the skills theyve learned from the attractions to design their own jet and fly it in a video game-like flight simulation.

As part of the activity, they learn which pieces of a plane are desirable for different types of flight.

Jason Scaplen, 11, of Garden Grove said he enjoyed being able to have the choice to design his own plane and then see it in action. He learned that certain wings are better than others based on what you want your plane to do.

Baily can walk through the exhibit on any given day and see kids learning the same principles that he used in his career. The enjoyment they get out of learning about airplanes is something that Baily can relate to.

Baily always had a fascination with aviation growing up because his father was an Air Force pilot. But his eyesight began to falter in high school, so he decided to become an engineer, graduating from the University of Colorado in 1979.

He was then hired by Rocketdyne in Los Angeles, which was formerly owned by Boeing. In the first few weeks at the job, he witnessed an engine takeoff and he was hooked.

Baily said he hopes the next generation of kids will become inspired just like he did because aircraft capabilities are constantly evolving and new engineers will be needed.

Whats going to happen in the next 100 years? Baily said. We have no idea.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot

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Huntington resident helps brings Boeing aerospace exhibit to Discovery Cube - Los Angeles Times