By Gerry Tuoti

There are many different things that college students do to get away from the pressures of classes and co-op. Now, they can fly.

Be A Pilot, a national nonprofit organization supported by 45 aviation companies, organizations, and businesses, is offering college students and other age groups throughout the country introductory flying lessons for $49. Participants in the program are taught to navigate the skies by a licensed Federal Aviation Administration pilot instructor. The offer is good at more than 1,800 flight schools in the United States.

Drew Steketee, president and CEO of Be A Pilot, said that flying is not an activity reserved for the wealthy.

“I earned my pilot’s license by shoveling driveways and mowing lawns,” he said. “Our students range from teenagers to grandmothers.”

According to Steketee, 80 percent of students in Be A Pilot are between the ages of 25 and 54. Twelve percent are between the ages of 18 and 24. To enroll in the program, an applicant must speak English, pass a basic medical examination, and be at least 16-years-old to fly solo.

With many of the September 11 hijackers having been trained at American flight schools, security has become a major concern of the aviation community. Steketee said that the FAA and the individual flight schools are responsible for security checks. Steketee said that airports and flight schools across the country are paying more attention to security now than ever.

“We don’t own the flight schools,” he said. “They are independent businesses. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Organization now has a ‘neighborhood watch’ program for airports, with a hotline to dispatch law enforcement forces. Because the Immigration and Naturalization Services failed so badly, there is much more checking of foreign students.”

Steketee added that there are now additional requirements for internationals who want to train to fly aircraft weighing more than 12,500 pounds.

“They must have a special background check with the Department of Justice,” he said.

Some Northeastern students do not believe the easy access to flight training provided by Be a Pilot poses a threat to national security.

“It’s a legit idea. It’s as good as any other idea. It’s just a terrorist attack that has people wondering,” said junior civil engineering major Laurent Sika. “Ain’t no terrorists preventing me from taking flying lessons.”

Middler chemical engineering major Aaron Leach echoed that sentiment.

“I don’t think we should live in fear of terrorism forever,” he said.

“If there’s some kind of background check, it sounds like a cool idea,” said middler psychology major Dan Shovlin.

Steketee said that one purpose of the program is to “talk to kids in their teens and early twenties interested in flying as a potential career.”

He said that there are many types of career options in aviation, including becoming a commercial pilot; industrial flying careers like pipeline patrol and environmental monitoring and surveying; business flying; piloting a medevac or air ambulance aircraft; or teaching at a flight school.

“There’s just a million different parts of aviation that most people don’t even know about,” Steketee said.

According to Steketee, about 650,000 Americans, less than .05 percent of the country’s population, have some type of pilot’s license

“You learn how to make decisions and you get immense self confidence from performing such a unique task,” Steketee said of learning to fly. “Plus, it’s just a heck of a lot of fun.”

For more information and a complete listing of flight schools participating in Be A Pilot, visit the program’s Web site www.beapilot.com.