Big Buy

The last of the five Cessna 152s AOPA used for transportation and demonstrations over the past nine years has officially moved into the AAAC hangar. With half a dozen club members now holding pilot certificates and several more actively seeking their certificates, the addition of an airworthy aircraft to share space with AAAC’s two project airplanes is a major step in the right direction.

Brian Hughes is the head of high school aero club program at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy in Winter Haven, a public high school specifically designed to teach the AOPA Foundation High School STEM curriculum. He is also a co-founder of the Aspiring Aviators and a private pilot.

N104UC will be used to provide familiarization flights for any CFAA students. A local CFI has committed to take up the right seat on those flights, which will culminate with each student being presented with their first logbook and their first logbook entry. It may also be used as a time-builder for those who choose to log hours in the pursuit of earning their instrument rating in the future.

“It gives us the ability to put students in the air,” Hughes said. “That’s the single biggest motivator you can give a kid who’s interested in aviation.”

The high school aero club program is a component of the AOPA You Can Fly high school initiative and is specifically intended to expose teenagers to aviation in a meaningful way.
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