AOPA's 'Ask An Ambassador' reaches milestone

The semimonthly webinar is hosted by AOPA Foundation You Can Fly ambassadors Jamie Beckett (Eastern region), Pat Brown (Central region), and Kay Sundaram (Western region) and produced by AOPA Senior Manager of Rusty Pilots Operations Donnie Mackay and AOPA You Can Fly Specialist Rebecca Boone. The idea for this series was proposed at the onset of COVID-19, while the ambassadors—who were used to traveling and interacting face to face—were looking for ways to connect with their audience.

The series caught on, and has been airing and growing in popularity since September 2020. Ask an Ambassador focuses on current and relevant aviation topics with recent episodes tackling themes like common errors, ground operations, and temporary flight restrictions and intercepts.

The hosts, an active designated pilot examiner, an aeronautical engineer, and an A&P mechanic (all CFIs), provide a lively and entertaining discussion that is sure to offer diverse insight into a number of topics. “It really is legitimately a team effort,” said Beckett. “We all bring something to this of value, and we all know something the other doesn’t.” While each episode has a designated topic, the ambassadors also answer questions live, about any aeronautical topic.

Episode 42 – Ground Operations was a monumental episode, as it marked 100,000 views since the program’s inception. “The three of us are just thrilled,” Beckett said of the milestone. “It’s a fun program for us to do, and we get to interact with people from all over the world.”

Ask an Ambassador airs live on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month on our YouTube channel and Facebook. Viewers can also watch previous episodes here.