Baltimore City students take to the simulated sky during weeklong BWI program

Tori, 12, and Lauren, 11, are 2,000 feet in the air somewhere east of downtown, or so they’re told to imagine. The co-captains are seated in front of Redbird control panels — a blinking mess of knobs and buttons — as their instructor points out a landmark in front of them. “See that funny-looking building? Aim to fly over there,” the instructor says. The young pilots aren’t actually in the air but in a flight simulator — at least for now.