A lot of AOPA’s key activities happen not far from our headquarters in the Washington, D.C., area—that’s inevitable when advocacy is a critical part of what you do.
But advocacy doesn’t happen only in the halls of government; it happens everywhere. And when it comes to helping grow and support general aviation, we have to be out in the community to do the work.
That’s why we’ve created a program we call You Can Fly. It serves as an umbrella for many of our activities designed to get people flying and keep them flying— such as the Rusty Pilots program to get lapsed pilots back in the air; support for flying clubs and flight schools; and our Reimagined Aircraft initiative.
Programs like these are important, but it takes people to make them happen. So we’ve hired a small group of AOPA Ambassadors to bring these programs to life. These folks are out in the trenches, helping to nurture activities that support and grow general aviation.
Although he’s only been on the job a few weeks, Ambassador Jamie Beckett has already made a big difference for pilots in one Florida community. He created a seminar called “Maximum Fun, Minimum Cost—How to Start and Operate a Flying Club.” In March, he delivered it to a group of pilots who had been struggling for more than two years to put a club together. Since then, he’s met several more times with the group to provide guidance and assistance.
By the end of April, the new Central Flying Club was well on the way to formal incorporation. And as I write this, Jamie is hard at work helping them find a lease on a Cessna 172 or Piper Cherokee. The new club hopes to be fully operational by the time you read this.
Over the course of just a few weeks, Jamie has helped 15 pilots fulfill their dreams of launching a flying club. It’s a lot of work, but the rewards go well beyond the official launch of the club. The benefits will extend for years as these pilots fly more, put at least one legacy aircraft to good use, share the fun with family and friends, and perhaps serve as a resource for others looking to follow their lead.
Helping flying clubs get started or expand isn’t the only way the AOPA Ambassadors can make a meaningful difference.
Think of all the pilots you know who are no longer current—maybe I’m talking about you. The reasons people stop flying are varied, but just about every lapsed pilot I’ve ever met has told me they want to fly again. And sometimes, just getting started is the hardest part.
That’s where the Rusty Pilots program and the AOPA Ambassadors come in. Ambassadors meet with flight schools or flying clubs that might want to host a Rusty Pilots event. They provide information and work with the host organization to put plans in motion. The half-day program is free to both students and the host organization, and participants can get a sign-off for the ground school portion of the flight review.
Not only do AOPA Ambassadors help arrange and publicize these Rusty Pilots events, they also supply all the needed materials and even deliver the seminars. In just its first year, Rusty Pilots has helped bring hundreds of lapsed pilots back to active flying status.
AOPA Ambassadors also play a role in helping flight schools help their students. Working with school managers, the Ambassadors can offer promotional ideas, research data, marketing tools, and more. And perhaps best of all, AOPA Ambassadors connect flight schools with others in their area—and nationwide—so they can share information about what works and what doesn’t, and explore new ways to serve their students.
AOPA Ambassadors have the full resources of AOPA behind them, as well as extensive personal experience. If you see someone at your airport flying a bright yellow Reimagined Cessna 150 or 152, it just might be an AOPA Ambassador. Be sure to say hello and check out these fun, affordable airplanes. You can also meet our ambassadors at any of this year’s AOPA Fly-Ins, as well as major aviation events like EAA AirVenture.
We’re just at the beginning of a long and exciting adventure with You Can Fly and the ambassadors who make it work. We won’t turn around decades of decline in the GA pilot population overnight. This is a long-term effort that, we hope, will gradually build momentum and help change the prospects for general aviation. It will require commitment, dedication, and something very few pilots have—patience. But I believe it can make a real difference for the future of GA, and so far, we’re off to a great start.
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AOPA President Mark Baker is an active general aviation pilot who flies for business or pleasure nearly every day of the year.
Mark Baker
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