by Dave Weiman
I don’t think very many of us would be in aviation today if it were not for the selflessness of a “mentor.” For myself, I always had an interest in flying, but did not take that initial step to learn to fly until a fellow college student took me flying and introduced me to the right people.
Mentorship can mean the difference between someone learning to fly, or not learning to fly, and being a mentor is easier today than ever before, thanks to some incredible tools available at the AOPA website: www.aopa.org.
The next time you sense that someone is interested in flying, but doesn’t know where to begin, show them the AOPA website, then click the tab “Learn To Fly.” There, they can learn more about flying and get many of their questions answered.
Also, share with them why you learned to fly, and how flying has affected your life career-wise, travel-wise, and personal enjoyment-wise.
Compare the cost and convenience of private flying with other forms of transportation and recreation.
Tell them that some pilots like to go high and fast, while others like to go low and slow. Some like the latest in avionics, while others just want a stick and rudder. Some like to fly to big city airports and have a car and red carpet waiting for them when they arrive, while others prefer to land on a snow-covered grass strip with skis in the winter, or on a lake with floats in the summer.
The AOPA website has a feature to locate a local “flight school” among the 3,000 that exist in the U.S. today. But if you already know of a good flight school and instructor in your area, make the proper introductions. After that, your job as a mentor can be done and it is then up to the flight instructor to mentor his student from that point on.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Midwest Flyer Magazine.
