Ready 9 Program — Every Student Flies

Ready 9 Aviation Academy, through Every Student Flies, offers high school-age students in Southern Maryland a free instructional flight in an airplane. The Patuxent Partnership is helping to publicize the program.

The aviation academy is an evolution of Southern Maryland Seaplanes, focused on providing specialty flight instruction for rated pilots.

The new chapter builds on that expertise to bridge the gap between existing STEM programs in Southern Maryland and a hands-on instructional experience in an airplane.

Southern Maryland is host to an extremely robust aviation industry, with Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s flight test, engineering, and program management workforce, and numerous nationally and locally owned companies supporting those efforts. The industry offers a unique, and perhaps unmatched level of expertise available to shape the future of aviation.

The academy currently provides discovery flights, and specialized flight instruction in tailwheel aircraft and seaplanes. Its vision is to create a state-of-the-art flight training program.

Getting hands-on time in an airplane is something that few people actually have the means to do or the opportunity. There are several STEM-focused groups already with links to the base and aviation, but the academy is the only one trying to get youth into airplanes to experience flight first-hand.

To learn more, visit this TPP’s STEM-Link page.

About The Patuxent Partnership

The Patuxent Partnership is a nonprofit member organization that fosters collaboration between government, industry, and academia to advance education through STEM-based initiatives; to advance technology through speaker programs, forums, and networking; to advance science and technology transfer through the exchange of ideas, information, and data related to technologies; and to increase workforce development through an array of initiatives.

SoMD 2030 is focused on building a STEM pipeline, increasing career opportunities. This collaborative effort is funded by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aviation Division. The Patuxent Partnership is accomplishing the work under an agreement with NAWCAD, working with St. Mary’s College of Maryland, College of Southern Maryland, area public school systems, as well as other schools, industry, and NAWCAD. SoMD 2030 connects talented students with paid apprenticeships and internships.

To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and its programs, visit its Leader member page.