EAA will roll out its new Young Eagles-style familiarization program for adults in January. In a year-end interview, EAA President Rod Hightower said the program, named Eagle Flight, will fly its first adult pilot wannabe in March. The name was presumably chosen from submissions by EAA members after the program was announced during EAA AirVenture last year. Hightower said that about a third of the 15,000 newly licensed pilots in 2010 were older than 34 and Eagle Flight aims to tap into the latent desires of many potential new pilots.
He said many people dream of flight from a young age and aren’t able to pursue it in their youth. As they get older and get more time and money they start thinking about acting on those dreams. The new program is designed to make the first step of getting into the left seat of an airplane easier. Hightower said there is already strong support for the program. More than 200 EAA members have expressed willingness to use their aircraft for Eagle Flights.
