2023 Sun 'n Fun: Students say exposure and access are key to building interest in aviation
LAKELAND — Students with the Tango Thirty One Aero Clube, based in McKinney, Texas, have come to the 49th annual Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo to meet with their local sister club, Lakeland Aero Club, for the first time.
“I’m so excited, I’ve been wanting to come for the last couple of years but haven’t been able to make it out,” said Kevin Butler, 25, one of Tango’s founders.
Many are looking to these high school aero clubs to become the base of aviation's future.
Tango Thirty One Aero Clube was started in 2017 after Kevin Lacey came to Lakeland to film a show about repossessing an aircraft. He met Mike Zidziunas, president of the Lakeland Aero Club, and learned of its mission to encourage student interest in the aviation industry and flying.
“I gave him all of our staff, our ways of fundraising, rules and procedures for the students,” Zidziunas said. “He mixed it together and made their own Texas version of it.”
Lakeland and Tango Thirty One are two of the only high school flying clubs whose members are encouraged and supported to fly across the country, Zidziunas said. The students regularly fly to the EEA AirVenture Oshkosh Fly-in in Wisconsin each summer.
'It's starting to happen'
Lakeland Aero Club has also been a supporter of the Aspiring Aviators Aero Club Inc., a Winter Haven-based group that formed in October 2020.
Lakeland Aero Club hopes these are the first of many other student clubs it can help launch.
“It's starting to happen, and it needs to happen across the country,” Zidziunas said.
Zidziunas said these student groups play a vital role in bringing together teens with an interest in aviation, creating the next generation of aviation professionals.
“We have a tremendous looming pilot, mechanic and air traffic controller shortage,” he said.
Zidziunas said there are fewer people entering the military, which is moving more toward unmanned aircraft operations. This means fewer pilots coming out of the military to work for commercial airlines, while the commercial air traffic industry is trying to expand.
He said the aviation industry missed out on an entire generation, and now needs to focus on other methods of recruiting talent.
'Pushed in the door of a hangar'
Savanna Hunter, 17, said she was always interested in flying, living in what she called “aviation country” for nearly nine years. But she didn’t know where to get started.
“I didn’t know what general aviation was until I got pushed in the door of a hangar,” she said.
Butler said one of the biggest challenges getting high school students interested in aviation is simply exposure.
“It seems like such a far-out idea to get into aviation whether its due to costs or simply figuring out how to do it in the first place,” he said.
Alex Coats, 23, a founding member of Tango Thirty One who now works for Cirrus Aircraft, said there are physical boundaries that impose challenges.
“There are fences around every airport you go to, and it seems no one knows how to get inside that fence,” Coats said.
Zidziunas said One benefit to the Aerospace Center for Excellence and Central Florida Aerospace Academy being built on the grounds of Lakeland Linder International Airport is that it puts students inside that fence.
The newly launched Junior ACES program is debuting with hands-on workshops this week at Sun ‘n Fun, looking to provide a fun aviation experience to children ages 7 to 17. More than 2,000 Polk County students are signed up to come through Junior ACES on school friend trips.
“We want more children to come and experience the magic of aviation," said Eric Crump, director of the Aerospace Center for Excellence.
Lakeland Aero Club members openly work on projects each year at Sun 'n Fun in front of the public, who are invited to stop by and ask questions throughout the week. This year, students are working on attaching a pair of pontoons to one of their existing planes so it can land on water. Others are focused on learning how to build a plane's engine.
Once an interest is sparked, the financial cost of getting started is a huge barrier to many students looking to get involved, Zidziunas said. He estimated it costs between $12,000 to $15,000 for an individual to earn their private pilot’s license with lessons and certifications. He said many students pay less than that by going through the ACE and CFAA programs.
Many Polk County students wouldn’t be at ACE or CFAA without the scholarship programs, Zidziunas said. The expo is the singular largest annual fundraiser for these education programs, with all proceeds supporting the school.
Zidziunas said it’s still not enough to fill the gaps in aviation field.
“We are hoping the industry will step up, and we are starting to see that.”
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 2023 Sun 'n Fun: Aero clubs give kids exposure and access to aviation
