New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Airport community members, partnering with the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA), will provide free flights for children ages 8 through 17, on Saturday, May 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the Colonial Air ramp at New Bedford Regional Airport, 1605 Airport Road. The price of admission is simply an interest in aviation.
The event, sponsored by the EAA and Atlantic Aviators, is an exciting opportunity for children to experience a flight. As part of the Young Eagles program, children will get a bird’s eye view of the City and experience flight from the front seat of a small airplane.
“We see children become fascinated by the concept flight at our education-oriented airport playground all the time. We are always asking: ‘Where are there other opportunities to foster that fascination?’” said Airport Manager Erick D’Leon.
“The answer we discovered is really quite simple – we reach out to the community to show the public what it’s all about,” said Dot Cunningham, President of Colonial Air.
In addition to free airplane rides, visitors will be able to meet representatives from the airport, see a variety of remote control aircraft on display, enjoy the aviation playground, and check out a small gathering of static display aircraft belonging to various EAA pilots from around the region.
The event will be located at Colonial Air, 1605 Airport Rd., New Bedford, MA 02746, and will be held on Saturday May 16th, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with a rain date of Sunday, May 17.
About the Sponsors – New Bedford Regional Airport; Atlantic Aviators; EAA
New Bedford Regional Airport serves the South Coast region of Massachusetts and is capable of receiving a wide variety of operations, from small private aircraft up to large regional jets. Cape Air provides regularly scheduled, year-round, air service from New Bedford to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The airport annually contributes more than $32 million worth of impact into the local economy. Home to one of the finest aviation themed playgrounds in the country, the airport is also the base of the Bridgewater State University collegiate flight training program, the largest of its kind in New England.
The Atlantic Aviators are the Southeastern Massachusetts chapter of Women in Aviation, International. The chapter was established in 1993 and has worked within Southeastern Massachusetts to fulfill their mission of introducing and educating the community to the world of education. The Atlantic Aviators offer scholarships as well as educational outreach for young women and men who wish to pursue careers in the Aviation industry as well as those in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.
The Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) provides aviation enthusiasts with the opportunity to come together as part of an organization centered around building aircraft. Since 1992, EAA’s network of volunteer pilots has taken more than 1.9 million kids flying around the country as part of their Young Eagles program. For many, those flights were the start of their own journeys on the way to fascinating careers in aviation.
We may be moving to the New Bedford area, what is the hanger situation in the surrounding area, I have a 500 hp Pitts I need to finish. Thank you, Jerry Davis