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DreamLaunch Tour Begins Fall Schedule After Introducing More Than 22,000 Students to Careers in Aviation

Jamail Larkins Daytona Beach, Fla., Sept. 30, 2005 -- As the national DreamLaunch Tour revs up for another season, the successful program has now informed more than 22,000 students about careers in aviation.

Jamail Larkins, who at 21 is one of the nation’s youngest aerobatic pilot as well as an aviation business student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has been barnstorming across the United States since January 2004 to speak at middle schools and high schools.

“The DreamLaunch Tour has exceeded our expectations so far,” Larkins said. “I’ve received letters and emails from many students who had never previously considered the wide-ranging career opportunities in aviation, saying that the tour’s presentation and the media coverage of the tour really got them excited.”

Larkins cites the example of a teenager named Sabrina from the Chicago area whose interest in aviation was sparked when she saw a television interview of him. At his invitation, she took her first Young Eagles flight, with Larkins at the controls, during the 2005 EAA AirVenture Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wis. As if that wasn’t enough of a thrill, the other passenger in the Cirrus SR22 was FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. Sabrina now takes flying lessons.

Larkins says that with continued support from the DreamLaunch Tour sponsors, including Embry-Riddle, and new support from the FAA, he expects the Fall 2005 tour to be the most successful one yet. Other sponsors of the DreamLaunch Tour are AeroShell, Avemco, Bose, Cirrus, Cox Communications, Jeppesen, Mattituck, Michelin, Superior Air Parts, and Yelvington Jet Center.

In February 2005, Larkins was appointed the FAA Ambassador for Aviation and Space Education, in which role he promotes aviation and aerospace career opportunities to youth across the country and represents the FAA’s Aviation and Space Education Division at aviation events. FAA Administrator Blakey said, “Our effort to get kids to understand that aviation is a great career needs a good spokesman, and I can’t think of anybody … who has better characteristics or personal ability to put that over.”

The Fall 2005 DreamLaunch Tour will visit schools in the following cities, with more stops to be added:

10/03 Hartford, Conn.
10/14 Prescott, Ariz.
10/21 Franklin, N.C.
10/24 New Bern, N.C.
10/26 Chattanooga, Tenn.
10/28 Daytona Beach, Fla.
10/31 Atlanta, Ga.
11/04 Tampa, Fla.
11/05 Lakeland, Fla.
11/09 Orlando, Fla.
11/11 Memphis, Tenn.
11/14 Lafayette, La.
11/18 Los Angeles, Calif.

More information on the DreamLaunch Tour can be found at www.erau.edu/dreamlaunch.

Embry-Riddle, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates more than 30,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States and Europe, and worldwide through distance learning.