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Embry-Riddle Student Jamail Larkins Named FAA’s Education Ambassador

Marion Blakey and Jamail Larkins Daytona Beach, Fla., Feb. 2, 2005 -- Jamail Larkins, at 21 the nation’s youngest aerobatic pilot and an aviation business student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has signed an Ambassadorship Agreement with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Marion Blakey. The ceremony to formalize the contract was held Feb. 2 at FAA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

As the FAA Ambassador for Aviation and Space Education, Larkins will promote aviation and aerospace career opportunities to youth across the country. He will also represent the FAA’s Aviation and Space Education Division at aviation events throughout 2005.

"Our effort to get kids to understand that aviation is a great career needs a good spokesman, and I can’t think of anybody … that would have better characteristics or personal ability to put that over,” said Blakey.

Jamail Larkins and Students While he was at FAA Headquarters for the signing ceremony, Larkins addressed 1,000 students from multiple schools in the Washington, D.C., metro area who were there to “shadow” FAA employees to learn about the work they do. He also talked with some of the students in a smaller group setting.

Larkins is the national spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Vision of Eagles Program and for Careers in Aviation Inc., an initiative that inspires American youth to achieve their dreams in the aviation industry.

In 2004, Careers in Aviation Inc. and Embry-Riddle sponsored Larkins’ DreamLaunch Tour, in which he barnstormed across the nation in a Cirrus SR20 to talk with middle-school and high-school students in 34 major cities about job opportunities in aviation. Interested students were put in touch with a Careers in Aviation representative or an EAA Young Eagles coordinator in their area. The tour will resume in fall 2005.

The DreamLaunch Tour gained Larkins a television appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman” on May 20, 2004, and he was featured in the Oct. 31, 2004, issue of Parade magazine.

Larkins started flying at the age of 12. Two years later, the Augusta, Ga., native became one of the youngest certified pilots in the United States when he soloed a powered aircraft in Canada. He completed his U.S. solo shortly after his 16th birthday in a Cirrus SR20. He currently flies a high-performance Christen Eagle II aerobatic aircraft on the airshow circuit.

For more information on Larkins and the DreamLaunch Tour, as well as photos, go to 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 and meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. 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.