Sat, Apr 01, 2006
Young Eagles Successes Give Rise To New EAA Program... "Old
Buzzards"
04.01.06 'Special'
Edition: Building on well over a decade of success
with their innovative Young eagles program, EAA has decided to
start yet another initiative designed to bring thousands of new
pilots into the world of aviation.
"Young Eagles has been a wonderful program," noted EAA President
Tom Poberezny. "We've achieved phenomenal successes and brought the
joy of aviation to well over a million young people all over the
world. That's a great result."
While the successes of the program are clear, the actual payoff
for the aviation community is often delayed for several decades as
the erstwhile Young Eagle matures to an age and financial position
that would allow them to pursue aviation, if they so desire.
"We wanted to target a more immediate and financially empowered
demographic," explained EAA's Dick Knapinski.
Knapinski continued,
"With the advent of the Sport Pilot regs and the lack of a specific
requirement for a medical certificate for new pilots coming into
the fold, we hit upon a truly outstanding way to grow our ranks
from a demographic that can take advantage of the new regs right
now and would be bringing some significant financial power to seek
their dreams of leaning to fly and buy their own airplanes... in
other words, folks either in or near retirement age. They've got
the money, they've got the time, and so many of them have the
dream... and with the lessened medical requirements of
the Sport Pilot program, there's little to keep them out of the sky
so long as they can still hold a driver's license. The payoff for
the industry is a whole new crop of possible aviators who can
partake in the dream... right now!"
Tying into the successful identity of the Young Eagles program,
EAA has christened the new program, "Old Buzzards."
"It's not like we don't have a sense of humor," explained
Poberezny when ANN first reacted to the name... who said that the
Old Buzzards will closely parallel the Young Eagles program in
empowering EAA members and chapter s all over the country to seek
out elder aero-hopefuls and give them their first flying lesson. We
fully expect to see a major jump in training and sales activity
within months of the start of this program."
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