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August 8, 2008
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Jack Pelton inherited the love of flying from his parents, and he is actively involved in instilling this passion in young people. |
It was 40 years ago this summer that 10-year-old Jack J. Pelton first experienced the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) annual conference and fly-in.
He flew in the right seat of his father’s Cessna 140A from southern California to Rockford, Ill. While the Peltons – his mother also was a pilot – didn’t attend the event every year, they made the pilgrimage from California to Oshkosh as often as possible.
Pelton spent many weekends at air shows throughout the region and Flabob Airport in southern California, where his father was a member of EAA Chapter 1.
“Through that exposure to aviation, I knew I was hooked,” says Pelton, the chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Company. “It turned into model making while in elementary school, eventually leading to learning to fly and now a wonderful career in aviation.”
Pelton is actively involved in bringing a love of flying to young people and Textron, too, is committed to nurturing a new generation of engineers for Cessna and its other business units.
Pelton’s “wonderful career” was recognized at the recent EAA AirVenture 2008 with the 2008 Freedom of Flight award. This is EAA’s highest honor, and it is bestowed annually to an individual whose contributions to aviation closely mirror the integrity, entrepreneurship and innovativeness of EAA members.
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EAA President Tom Poberezny presents Jack Pelton with the Freedom of Flight award at AirVenture 2008. |
He is an EAA Lifetime member, belonging to EAA Warbirds, Vintage and International Aerobatic Club, and chairman of the Gathering of Eagles, which supports Young Eagles and other EAA programs that inspire youth involvement in aviation.
“We are honored to present this award to Jack for his long-time involvement in aviation and with EAA, especially in relation to his vision for light sport aircraft through the Cessna SkyCatcher, which will create a paradigm change in aviation training,” EAA President Tom Poberezny said in presenting the award to Pelton.
In fact, Cessna publicly unveiled the first production Model 162 SkyCatcher complete with a production interior at this year’s EAA conference. The unveiling comes one year after Cessna officially launched the light sport aircraft program at EAA.
Since the launch, Cessna has taken orders for more than 1,000 SkyCatchers and completed three airframes for the program’s development. With its $111,500 price tag, the SkyCatcher is designed to drive down the cost of learning to fly, stimulating new pilot starts all the while encouraging licensed pilots to continue to fly.
Pelton supports numerous grassroots activities to expose kids to aviation, including the Build A Plane organization that gives young people the opportunity to build real airplanes. He wants to do his part to grow and strengthen general aviation, not just because it’s his business but because it’s his passion.
“The access and venues for youth are not like they were for me 40 years ago,” Pelton says. “Security at airports and fewer local air shows just don’t give kids the opportunity I had to go hang out at the airport and bum rides.
“We have to work much harder to ensure we share our story with kids so they can catch the excitement that we all found.”
Like Pelton, Textron is committed to recruiting and retaining talented professionals. The recently-announced Textron Leadership Program: Engineering is providing seven employees with less than two years of experience in their fields with an accelerated path to engineering projects and processes across Textron.
The seven employees, who represent four Textron business units, recently spent a week at an engineering boot camp hosted by Cessna. They will participate in three nine-month rotational assignments at three Textron business units over the next 27 months. They will be assigned engineering tasks within their rotation and will have peer and executive mentoring as well as additional training.
Building on the success of an engineering boot camp piloted by Bell earlier this year, other business units will be hosting similar events for engineering students. The boot camps build excitement for the engineering opportunities that are available throughout Textron.
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