AOPA needs your to help reverse a troubling trend. Since 1980, the U.S.
population has grown by 25 percent, yet the pilot population has declined by
the same percentage.
The
antidote? Mentors. It's a simple fact that student pilots who have a mentor are
three times more likely to earn their pilot certificates. And that's why the
association has beefed up its AOPA Project Pilot program. We're asking each of
our more than 408,000 members to identify a strong candidate for flight
training, help them get started, and support them in earning a certificate.
Project
Pilot provides powerful tools, centered on a new Web site, AOPAProjectPilot.org,
which will help you as a mentor keep in touch with students and track students'
progress while providing support, tips, and encouragement. "We've taken
the successful aspects of the existing Project Pilot program and added the best
of today's technologies, including DVD and the latest Web innovations,"
said Jeff Myers, AOPA executive vice president of communications.
"The
results dramatically enhance the program's effectiveness." After
nominating a potential student pilot, you receive a kit that includes a
personal "thank you" letter from AOPA President Phil Boyer, a message
from Project Pilot spokesman Erik Lindbergh, information about your role as a
mentor, and brochures to share with other prospective pilots.
Additionally,
you get two more entries in the annual AOPA Sweepstakes airplane giveaway for
every student you successfully enroll. For students, the Web site provides them
with information and resources to help reinforce what their flight instructors
are teaching them, and it allows them to chart their progress and share their
successes with you.
So
what are you waiting for? You probably have a candidate in mind already. Now
help them realize a dream by signing them up via the Web site. It's fun and
takes little time, and the payoff lasts a lifetime. AOPA also wants every
member to see an important
video message from Boyer and Lindbergh