Manitoba Aerospace Week

18 MANITOBA AEROSPACE WEEK May 27 - June 4, 2016 D uring Manitoba Aerospace Week, there is one important factor that should not be overlooked. The aviation industry needs well-trained and well-equipped personnel to do the job, and it needs well-trained and well-motivated pilots. Often, becoming a pilot is something people dream of at a very young age. The 17,000-member Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) developed a program that captures a young person's desire to soar like an eagle, but in modern, sophisticated and well- equipped airplanes. To complement the successful Air Cadet glider and power aircraft program, COPA administers its own program, called COPA For Kids. The mission for the COPA For Kids Aviation Program is to provide a motivational aviation experience, focusing on a demonstration flight in an airplane. Flights are provided free of charge to any youth aged 8-17 who wishes to participate. Since its inception in 2009 more than 10,000 young aviators have experienced the thrill of first flight. Many of COPA's National Flights (local chapters) participate in COPA For Kids, and for many, flying young people has become a highlight of the summer season. Pilots volunteer their airplanes, their fuel and their time, while other members organize events for hundreds of young people to come out on a given day. One measure of the success of the program is that many people who had an introduction to flying at an early age have gone on to get their pilot licences and are now flying young people themselves. The COPA For Kids program is sponsored by the insurance underwriter AIG. It was created as a Canada-only program for COPA Flights and is similar to, and has been inspired by, an equivalent program in the United States and around the world called Young Eagles, which was created in 1992 by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Aviation Foundation. COPA is not associated with the EAA Young Eagles Program. Both EAA and COPA applaud one another's efforts to involve young people in aviation, and each organization offers its members their own way to demonstrate the wonders of flight to young people. COPA pilots retain a record of COPA For Kids flights and register the flight in the COPA Junior Aviator Logbook. Each young person who participates will receive a pilot's log book in which their first flight is entered and can check the Junior Aviator Logbook on the COPA For Kids website to look for his/her name. To learn more, visit www.copaforkids.org. ❚ — Jerry Roehr, COPA Treasurer and Director, representing Manitoba and Nunavut. COPA FOR KIDS FUELS DREAMS OF FLIGHT

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