EAA Seeks Wider Audience, Adds Lane Wallace

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EAA wants to reach beyond the faithful and bring new converts into general aviation, EAA President Rod Hightower said at Sun ‘n Fun on Tuesday. “How do we reach out to the non-flying public?” Hightower asked. One way he proposes is to expand the audience of the organization’s Sport Aviation magazine, which currently is available only by mail to members. Soon the magazine will appear on racks in pilot shops, and plans are in the works to further expand the title into the wider world, Hightower said. Signing on to help with that effort is longtime Flying contributor Lane Wallace, who will bring her “Flying Lessons” column to EAA. “Reaching out to the world at large, I’m all about that,” Wallace said. “It’s not about the plane — it’s about where it can take you.”

Hightower said Young Eagles spokesman Jeff Skiles was expected to be at the show Tuesday morning but had been delayed by the weather. Skiles is flying to the show in a Cessna Skycatcher — EAA’s sweepstakes airplane for this year — and stopped at several sites along the way to host Young Eagles events. About 100 youngsters went for a flight at each stop, Hightower said, including the 11-year-old son of one of the passengers who survived the famous ditching in the Hudson with Skiles in the cockpit. EAA will continue to support Young Eagles as a way to help create the next generation of aviators and will develop new “pathways to participation” to encourage more people to engage in the world of general aviation, Hightower said.

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