Revitalizing GA: It's Up To You
You've seen the numbers, dismal numbers.
Student starts are down, the number of active pilots continues to fall precipitously, and your local airport has once-shiny airplanes corroding among the weeds. You might even have heard some of your fellow pilots worrying about "the death of general aviation."
Nonsense!
Look at the smiling face of Dallas Kerley, who, in 1994, became the very first enrollee in AOPA's Project Pilot. He earned his private pilot certificate in a near-record 42 hours that year, then added an instrument rating in February 1996. That's Kerley sitting in the command seat of his own Mooney 201 at his home airport in Wilmington, Delaware.
The 35-year-old Kerley wouldn't have become a pilot — or aircraft owner — if it hadn't been for AOPA member Bob Moor, who identified this coworker at his auto dealership as a good pilot candidate and became his mentor. As Kerley worked his way through flight training at Diamond Flite Center with instructors Sinead Russell and Jan Case, other pilot friends and coworkers added their support and helped to answer questions.
"I just interrogated everybody," Kerley laughs, "especially about how to get the perfect landing flare."
Kerley credits his training success to the encouragement and mentoring of Moor and his other pilot friends. "Every flight is a challenge," he says. "Bob and my other pilot friends, through AOPA Project Pilot, help me to live that challenge every time I fly."
Here's how you can make a difference:
- Identify a qualified friend or coworker.
- Nominate your Project Pilot student.
- Receive your Project Pilot Mentor Kit.
As an AOPA Project Pilot mentor, you'll receive a kit including Project Pilot newsletters, your nominee's "First Flight" certificate, and a Project Pilot lapel pin. AOPA resources are yours for the asking, including expert advice from the experienced pilots and instructors on the toll-free AOPA member assistance line.
To help, AOPA will also send your student nominee our Joy of Flying video, the AOPA Project Pilot newsletter, and a special student edition of AOPA Pilot called Invitation to Fly!. It's a kit that's guaranteed to help you get your new pilot off to a flying start.
Wouldn't you like to do your part? Look around you now for a qualified candidate or two, and enroll them in AOPA Project Pilot. We're not trying to save the whole world, just our little part of it.
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