President's Position: Dreams come true

Pilots cherish their stories, and they jump at the chance to get together and share them. On the surface, they may be stories about perfect flights or great airplanes, but if you dig a little deeper they’re almost always about the dreams, aspirations, and connections that make us human.

In this issue you’ll read about a passionate pilot with a very human story that centers on family, history, and, of course, airplanes (“A Daughter’s Homecoming,” page 42). That pilot’s name is Katie Pribyl, and she’s leading AOPA’s You Can Fly program.

I like to say that You Can Fly, and the many initiatives it includes, is about getting people flying and keeping them flying. And that’s true. But You Can Fly is also so much more. It’s about connecting people—with their dreams, with one another, and, yes, with aviation.

Under the auspices of You Can Fly, we recently brought together nearly 200 educators and industry leaders to share ideas, inspiration, and expertise at the second annual AOPA High School Aviation STEM Symposium (“A Whole New World,” page 31). Something sparked as these educators discussed ways to put aviation-themed science, technology, engineering, and math programs into high schools. Not only did the symposium participants make great connections with one another, they also left energized and ready to help students explore careers and opportunities in aviation. It is incredible to think that their students—many of whom have no prior experience with aviation—could become the next generation of pilots, aerospace engineers, technicians, and aircraft mechanics. I take great pride in knowing that You Can Fly is playing a part in connecting kids with aviation and giving them the tools to dream big when it comes to choosing a career.

Of course, sometimes making the connection with aviation isn’t quite enough. That’s why You Can Fly recently awarded 20 scholarships worth $5,000 each to help dedicated high school students pay for flight training. It was tremendously gratifying to hear the excited winners tell us that now, at last, they could stop dreaming and start flying.

To help connect future pilots like these with great learning experiences, the Flight Training Excellence Awards, also part of You Can Fly, recognize flight schools and instructors that consistently deliver exceptional training experiences and help pilots of all experience levels take their aviation dreams to the next level (“Honoring Flight Schools and Instructors,” page 30).

Of course, there are times when the demands of life force people to set their dreams aside. For pilots, that often means stepping away from the cockpit for a time. For thousands of those aviators, You Can Fly is reviving the dream by offering free Rusty Pilots seminars that make it easy for lapsed pilots to refresh their knowledge and rejoin the active aviation community. By connecting these pilots with schools, flight instructors, and information, we’re helping them get back in the air. In fact, more than 2,000 pilots are back to active flying status thanks to Rusty Pilots, and this year we plan to double the number of seminars we offer, helping thousands more pilots reconnect with our community.

Even active pilots may find that they want something more from their flying—whether that’s more affordability, more access to aircraft, or just more folks to fly with. And there, too, You Can Fly is creating connections. AOPA helped start 22 new flying clubs around the country in 2016 and linked more than 700 others through the AOPA Flying Club Network. These clubs give their members affordable access to airplanes, plus the camaraderie and connection of spending time and enjoying adventures with fellow pilots.

To create a strong future for GA, we really do need to get more people flying and keep them flying. Reversing the long decline in the pilot population requires thousands more pilots, not millions. That’s a very achievable goal, and we’re already seeing measurable results.

I am tremendously proud of what AOPA is doing with You Can Fly, and appreciative of the generous donors to the AOPA Foundation who are making You Can Fly possible. I’m also proud of the human faces, and stories, behind it. Like you and me, Katie and her team are aviation dreamers who have the privilege and honor of helping others make their aviation dreams come true.

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