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ACTS Aviation School hopes to combat pilot shortage by broadening exposure

Look Up: Aviation school hopes to combat pilot shortage by broadening exposure.
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  • KRIS 6 News spoke with Cody Stewart, the Executive Director of ACTS Aviation.
  • Stewart said the mission of ACTS Aviation is to inspire the next generation of aviators through history.
  • ACTS Aviation will be hosting a Warbird event to Rockport to help create opportunities for future aviators to enroll in flight school and to expose more people to the field of aviation.
  • The Warbird Christmas event will take place this Saturday from 9am- 5pm. For more information, click here.

The ACTS Aviation program has been providing historic airplanes for many years, and they are back at it this year.

Cody Stewart, the executive director of ACTS Aviation, said that he hopes to inspire the next generation of pilots by providing them with a flight of a lifetime.

“Our goal is to inspire the next generation of aviators through history,” Stewart said.

Stewart, better known as "Caveman", has been flying planes for 5 years now and said it’s time to raise the next generation of sky experts.

“Provide flying opportunities for kids, as well as adults who want to get into aviation,” Stewart said. “There is a huge need, nationwide, for pilots and we believe that inspiring the next generation through history is an opportunity that needs to be taken.”

For example, Plane 199 was created in 1942, which is 5 months after Pearl Harbor was bombed. However, Stewart said providing these future pilots with more than the history will create opportunities that will allow them to wear their wings with pride.

“To learn about the characteristics of flight in the cockpit. They will be up close and personal with the airplane and will have a true sense of what a pilot really means,” he said.

Now Stewart, along with other non-profits, are partnering together to bring a Warbird event to Rockport to help create opportunities for future aviators to enroll in flight school and to expose more people to the field of aviation.

“We hope that people leaving the event will have a better appreciation for history and aviation on general, but also give them the opportunity to contact various flight schools in the area,” Stewart said.

The Warbird Christmas event will take place this Saturday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The event will have free EAA airplane rides for kids 8 to 17-years-old in a classic Aeronca Champion and Warbird rides for purchase. For more information, click here.

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