13 Teens Learnt to Fly at Summer Camp

We've heard of all kinds of summer camps through these last two months, but today we visited one where 13 teenagers are learning to fly - or something like that. It's a camp organized by Larry Pratt of Belize Aviation and the BDF. Pratt is a Belizean American who reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Military before returning home to start a helicopter service. Now, he says he wants to give something back and he figured what better than offering these youths a career in aviation.

Larry Pratt, Belize Aviation Ltd.
"So once they get this background, then they are pretty much prepared to go into the aviation field. They were exposed to ATC, air traffic control, they were exposed to different types of aircrafts out here. It is important because all kids here in Belize have never had a chance to become pilots, to become FAA mechanics, and things of this nature. I think if they start now and with the background we have, we have a lot of qualified individuals.

I realize that any nation, any country, in order for them to do anything, in order for them to become a part of history, you've got to give back to your younger generation so it can be carried on. The course here, and I have been in the aviation industry for a long time, the course here that they received would probably cost them ten to fifteen thousand U.S. dollars in Amarillo in Florida."

Jules Vasquez,
Now if I put one of these kids behind the wheels of that Cessna 150 is it...

Larry Pratt,
"Right now with the exposure that they've had, they can get in there, they can do the pre-flight, they can tell you about the operation of the engine itself, and they can start the engine, rev up, and probably still taxi. We haven't gotten them up there yet to get the hours. They've been exposed to about an hour, each person got an hour in the different aircrafts."

The students graduated today. Pratt envisions that someday this same nucleus of trainees can gain qualifications and offer maintenance services for international carriers such as Continental, Delta, and U.S. Air right here in Belize.