By Bill Frank, EAA 1059029
John Bone, EAA Lifetime 1229642, a retired Delta Air Lines captain, has a long list of aviation accomplishments and awards. These include numerous type ratings, 26,000 hours of flight experience, the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and several World Air Sports Federation awards for circumnavigation. With all that, he could have easily rested on his laurels. Instead, he has established his legacy with the creation of the Long Island Young Aviators Club.
For many years John and his wife visited the Bahamas and eventually fell in love with the island of Long Island and bought a home in Stella Maris in 2012. John, who owns and flies a Cirrus SR22, noticed local youths hanging around the airport who began asking him about the airplane and what it’s like to fly. That quickly morphed into a one-airplane Young Eagles operation. It turns out that students schooled in Long Island achieve some of the highest grades in all the Bahamas, and after making numerous flights with the kids it was clear that there was a strong interest in all things aviation. However, there was no flight school anywhere in the country. The only option was going to a flight school in Florida which was out of reach for most Bahamian families. These young students could not participate in learning activities related to science, technology, engineering, and their practical applications in aviation. A lost opportunity.
The students were intelligent and eager to learn about aviation, so John requested to begin a private pilot ground school at the local high school. This was approved and he was offered a classroom with studies beginning in the spring of 2023. The classes were held on Saturdays for 14 weeks, and 22 students showed up for the first class. With this kind of attendance, the Long Island Young Aviators Club Inc. was formed, offering not only ground training, but simulator and limited flight training as support grew. Fundraising was established to purchase a basic flight simulator and raised $10,500, which is quite remarkable given the limitations of the local community whose primary source of income was fishing charters, farming, and services for tourists visiting the island. Donations received were as little as $1.00, revealing how important this was to the entire community. Though very basic, the simulator provided the students with the ability to transfer the knowledge they learned in ground training to simulated flights. As most flight training has moved on to technically advanced aircraft, usually with a Garmin G1000, a new simulator was at the top of the dream list.
Shortly after the high school program had started, a representative from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University was attending a college fair in Nassau. When she heard about the successful program in Long Island, a representative was sent to address the students. Within a few months two students from the high school were accepted to Embry-Riddle with full scholarships. A third student earned his private pilot license within the club and is working on his instrument rating using John’s airplane.
Just recently. Amjed Saffarini and Noble Flight Simulators stepped up and donated one of their beautiful sims at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this past year. Cirrus Aircraft also became involved, under the direction of Rob Haig, vice president and director of flight training, who arranged for transportation of the simulator to Stella Maris on Long Island. Cirrus along with Noble Flight Simulators will participate in a school assembly to encourage students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to motivate these young minds to pursue careers in aviation.
EAA has long recognized that engaging youths is an absolute necessity for aviation’s future. When it comes to aviation, and the struggles both financial and educational that young people face when trying to follow their dreams, it only takes one individual to make a difference. What started as a Young Eagles flight has snowballed into the creation of the only flying club in the Bahamas. A small community and the passion of an individual have led to an investment, within and outside of the classroom, in the future of their children. At a young age these bright students are being exposed to opportunities in aviation whether it be as pilots or mechanics or aeronautical engineers.
Though it all started with John Bone, the club has become a 501(c)(3) U.S. nonprofit corporation, receiving donations from U.S. aviators visiting Long Island and others such as the Ray Foundation and Noble Flight Simulators. Classes are now so large that the school system has provided a larger classroom. To allow all these students to progress to actual flight training the club needs an airplane; this will allow them to offer at least training through solo to every interested classroom student. Given sufficient funding, the vision is to continue training within the flying club through private, instrument, maybe even commercial and CFI. That way flight training can move full circle with students teaching students after high school.
Who could have thought that in one of the outer islands of the Bahamas the seeds were being planted for young people to learn about aviation and be given the opportunity to take that interest and excitement a step further, learning how to fly and moving on to collegiate level flight training and other careers in aviation. One individual can indeed make a difference.