(uplifting music)
- Hello, my name's Mark Baker,
the president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
We all know that aviation's booming out there
and great things are happening.
But what we really need is young people to get excited
about aviation, young men and young women.
The career opportunities have never been better.
Our You Can Fly program has been
really significantly involved in bringing people out
to learn more about aviation.
Elizabeth, can you talk about You Can Fly?
- Absolutely.
We are very excited to be able
to offer a four year high school aviation STEM curriculum
that last year alone was used
by more than 12,000 students in 44 states.
These are kids who are learning
about aviation opportunities, discovering careers,
and getting excited to join us in this industry.
And now let's hear from our friends at Textron,
a man who lives and breathes general aviation,
Scott Donnelley.
(uplifting music)
- Thanks Elizabeth. Thanks Mark.
As chairman and CEO of Textron and as a pilot,
I want the students today to share our passion
for flight and appreciate the experience
of seeing the world from a different perspective.
At Textron, we're very excited to be part
of the AOPA Foundation's You Can fly program.
Our company has a long history in general aviation
with Cessna, Beechcraft, and Bell, and we're really excited
about the opportunity to grow and expand the program
at You Can Fly to touch even more high school students
across our country.
The materials in the You Can Fly program
are absolutely brilliantly done.
It's a great STEM foundation,
and particularly a way to get people passionate
about our industry that we all love so much.
We're excited to be part of the program,
and expand this program, and to reach to so many students.
And so today we're announcing a million dollar gift
that will help the program continue to grow,
and touch even more high school students across our country.
We all have a great passion for this industry.
We've had the opportunity to live in it for most
of our adult lives, whether it's an engineer, a pilot,
someone involved in aircraft operations,
it's a great way to learn
and get excited about this industry.
So we're proud to support the You Can Fly program.
We hope many in our industry will do so.
And let's hear from some of the leaders across Textron
about why they're excited about the program.
(upbeat music)
- I'm Shannon Massey.
Lycoming Engines globally powers
much of the general aviation community.
We're proud to sponsor AOPA's You Can Fly program.
- We know supporting programs like You Can Fly
ensures more students have a chance
to experience the excitement of aviation.
- At TRU Simulation and Training,
we are proud to support the future of flight.
- Being a former Air Force officer,
and now leading Textron Systems,
I know firsthand how important aviation is to the future
of our military.
That's why we're so excited
to support AOPA's You Can Fly program.
- Our support of programs, like You Can Fly
ensures that aviation has a bright future.
- Learning to fly is an adventure.
It's a journey where you learn more about yourself
and the capabilities that you never knew you had before.
- At Bell, we are proud to support the future of flight.
- We're proud to support AOPA and the You Can Fly program,
where we're bringing new people into the joy of flying.
- We're excited to be a part of lifting up
this next generation of aviators.
- Hello, I'm Ron Draper,
President and CEO of Textron Aviation.
As an aviator myself, I'm very passionate about flying,
and I think it's important we introduce the next generation
to the possibilities within aviation.
The You Can Fly program helps with that.
Now let's hear from some of those
who are most impacted by the program.
(upbeat music)
- I wanna be a professional pilot.
I'm going to school for it at Embry-Riddle in one month,
actually, next month, next month in August.
And there's so many different jobs
and I would love to do anything in aviation.
There's so many different opportunities, but long term,
I would love to open up my own flight school,
and give people the same opportunities
that I was able to get at such a young age.
During my discovery flight, which was my first flight
in a small general airplane,
I went up and everything felt so natural and calm.
And I was expecting it to be scary but I just felt at home,
and like this is what I wanted to do
for the rest of my life.
Thank you so much for your support.
Thank you for supporting the future of aviation.
- [Mark] Thanks to the Textron family for being involved
and supportive of this idea to bring youth, excitement,
and new people into aviation.
We couldn't do it without you.
We look forward to working with you.
(upbeat music)