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The Aviation Education Foundation of Colorado, Inc. (AEFCO) makes dreams of flight come true for local youth, including 10 students who became private pilots in the last year and 15 who are in flight training.

For most students, training starts with the Aviation Summer Flight Experience. For eight days in June, students spent their time split between the cockpit and the classroom.

In the classroom, they learn flight procedures, aviation science, and exam preparation. Visiting speakers share with students about their careers as engineers and professional or military pilots. They provide inspiration as they describe how they reached their goals. New students also fly with volunteer pilots to experience orientation flight maneuvers.

Each year, AEFCO alumni return as visiting speakers. This year Erik Sabelstrom shared his experiences as a first-year midshipman at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. “It was just a few years ago that I was sitting in the same chair as you are now,” Sabelstrom shared with students, including Andrew Bomberg, who received his Private Pilot certification on July 9.

Students from the summer program who want to become private pilots apply for the Pilot Prep Course. The school-year-long, free “ground school for teens” prepares students to pass the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam. In the last year, 22 have passed, and those who pass the exam are eligible to apply for flight training matching scholarships. AEFCO scholarships help families offset flight training costs that average $8,500. During this summer’s program, AEFCO paid for extra flight hours to help advanced students speed up their flight training.