Flying clubs, ‘Rusty Pilots’ among topics of Aero Club speech

The head of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association told a Wichita audience Thursday that the organization is focused on getting more pilots in the air.

Mark Baker, AOPA president and CEO, was the keynote speaker at the Wichita Aero Club’s October luncheon at the DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Airport.

Baker said that among a number of initiatives, AOPA is trying to develop and retain more pilots through three programs: the Rusty Pilot program; the Flying Club Initiative, and the High School Aviation Initiative.

The aim of the Rusty Pilots program, Baker said, is to get a sliver of the 500,000 lapsed pilots in the U.S. to brush up on their skills and get back in the cockpit. The program was launched in 2014 and provides a free session of ground school that fulfills the Federal Aviation Administration’s flight review requirement for ground instruction.

Baker told the Aero Club that since it began, more than 5,000 people have attended 140 sessions and “over 1,000 have gotten back into the air.”

Another effort that works along with lapsed pilots is making flying less costly for recreational pilots. Baker said those costs can be greatly reduced through the establishment of flying clubs.

AOPA’s Flying Club Initiative aims to create a network of flying clubs across the country that Baker said generally provide lower rental fees and fuel costs. Since that effort launched in 2014, he said, 10 new flying clubs have been established in the country with AOPA’s help.

“We want to see flying clubs form at the rate of dozens and dozens, and dozens,” he said.

AOPA is also working to get aviation incorporated into high school STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs.

“For the first time in maybe a generation or two there’s going to be a real career opportunity for pilots that want to make a career out of aviation,” Baker said, adding that airlines are going to need “thousands and thousands” of more pilots in the coming years.

Next month, AOPA is holding its first symposium of the AOPA Aviation Education Leadership Alliance at the Aerospace Center for Excellence in Lakeland, Fla. The day-long symposium, set for Nov. 9, aims to help school administrators, guidance counselors and aviation program directors develop programs that target careers in aviation, including pilots, aerospace engineers and air traffic controllers.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Flying clubs, ‘Rusty Pilots’ among topics of Aero Club speech."