EAA Learn to Fly Day and Flying Start Updates

May 2020 – Spring is here, and with it the arrival of what should be flying season. I hope most of you are able to still enjoy social distancing from the air, but many chapters have certainly felt the effects of COVID-19 with canceled meetings and events. May was to have seen many observances of Learn to Fly Day by chapters hosting Flying Start events. Obviously, many of these will not be able to take place, but EAA encourages you to try to reschedule your event for a later date rather than outright cancel. Later may of course mean a few months from now, depending on your location and how the virus progresses through different areas. All chapters should follow local guidelines for their area, while also considering what will be best for the general health of the community when deciding when to move forward with any of their events.

On a brighter note, I am pleased to announce that the brand new Flying Start online registration tool is now available! You can register your event on the site by going to FlyingStart.org. For those who have used the Young Eagles online registration, you'll immediately notice the similarity between them and should find Flying Start online registration very easy to use. If you already have an account on YoungEaglesDay.org or the EAA Builders Log site, you will be able to log in to FlyingStart.org using the same login information. The FlyingStart.org site allows you to preregister participants, volunteers, and pilots; send email communications to them; facilitates the matching of pilots with participants for the Eagle Flights; and has the capability to submit the event information to EAA with the click of a button. A webinar recording introducing the tool is available here.

As a promotion for chapters to hold Flying Start events in May, EAA had offered two free weekly wristbands to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2020. With the pandemic restrictions already forcing the postponing or canceling of many May events, EAA expanded this promotion by offering this deal to any chapter hosting a Flying Start event any time during 2020. With the cancelation of AirVenture 2020, we will now be offering the wristbands for AirVenture 2021. In order to qualify to receive the wristbands, your chapter will need to utilize the online registration tool and have no fewer than five participants attend your Flying Start event.

If you have any questions related to any of this, please contact Serena Kamps at skamps@eaa.org or 920-426-6544.