What did you want to be when you grew up? For a lot of folks, a pilot was a dream job on that list.
The Twin Tier Aviation Association will hold a meeting later this month for high schoolers and parents to gauge interest in a student flying club, to introduce aviation as a possible career to students in grades 10 through 12 with hands-on instruction.
An interest meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 20, at the rotunda of the Otto-Eldred High School in Duke Center.
“It’s not just for students at Otto-Eldred,” said Steve Jackson, pilot and instructor with Twin Tier Aviation Association. “This is for all of McKean County, all five school districts.”
He explained the Twin Tier Student Flying Club would involve courses, “eight to 10 hours of ground school and two-and-a-half to three hours of actual flight.”
It would be an introduction for those who may want to pursue a career as a pilot.
“What we’re hoping to get off the ground is a non-profit to help fund these things,” Jackson said. “Maybe some corporate donations.”
And after the courses, if a student wants to continue pursuing a career as a pilot, “We can develop an advanced thing where we can provide further training at a greatly reduced cost,” he said. That way, when the student would start college, he or she could already have their pilot’s license, “and save their families thousands of dollars,” he explained.
There are learning field trips that could be included in the experience, too, like “taking them to the control tower at Buffalo-Niagara (International Airport) and watch them in real time,” Jackson said. “I’m hoping to do that.”
He’s spoken to other pilots, including ones for commercial airlines, who would come talk to the students about a career, or hold a Zoom meeting. And he would approach other officials in the industry about the same thing, like the Federal Aviation Administration and airport directors like Alicia Dankesreiter at Bradford Regional Airport.
There are many careers in the industry other than pilots, and Jackson hopes to educate interested students about them.
“We’re going in with an open mind,” he said. “We’re hoping to do it every spring and maybe in the fall.”
The club isn’t asking any school district for financial support, but is looking for support from other sources.
He added, “I want serious students. If we could get 10 students the first year, that would be great.”
Eventually, he’d like to see the courses be added to career and technical education courses offered in the county. There have been state and federal pushes toward career and technical education, so it may be a possibility somewhere down the road.
“That would be my ultimate dream, to have a vo-tech pick it up,” Jackson said.
For now, he’s starting off with the interest meeting at his alma mater. He approached Otto-Eldred first because he knew Superintendent Matt Splain.
“He really loved the idea,” Jackson said. “We put together a little presentation on paper and he handed it to the other superintendents. That’s how we got started.
“Now it’s on (social media) for all five schools.”
As for Splain, he’s thrilled with the idea.
“Steve approached me with this idea last fall,” Splain said. “He has been a strong advocate of aviation in our area for many years. We know there is a definite need in the industry, so the hope is to expose students to aviation opportunities from flying to mechanics to logistics. We have seen a few of our graduates pursue this field, so the intent is to get our local students an early start.”
As the flyer for the interest meeting says, “Children are born with wings. We’ll teach them to fly.”
Anyone interested in financially supporting the club should reach out to Twin Tier Aviation, by phone at (716) 378-7893, online at twintieraviation.com or by email at steve@allecatt.com.
