As president of the big and expanding The Villages Aviation Club, Jim Waymire keeps himself busy with activities such as flight planning, fitness programs and community involvement.
This winter, the organization collaborated with The Young Eagles Program to provide youngsters aged 8 to 17 with their first flight in an airplane.
“By partnering with The Young Eagles Program, The Villages Aviation Club is able to keep The Villages’ aviation community active and educate the next generation about the world of flying,” said Waymire, of the Village La Reynalda. “We have all kinds of people available to instruct the kids, including commercial airplane pilots, flight attendants, fighter pilots and helicopter pilots.”
Villagers contribute to the promotion of flying as a hobby and a future career through the cooperation.
Club members gather at SeaBreeze Regional Recreation Complex regularly. Every month, the Villages Aviation Club welcomes more than 100 new members, and every month, the club officials and club members begin planning their flights for the following month.
Members of the club mainly fly out of Leesburg International Airport or Ocala International Airport. Aviation Club members must fly and practice takeoffs and landings every 90 days in order to maintain their FAA VFR flying qualifications.
“We usually fly to New Smyrna Beach, St. Petersburg or Clearwater,” Waymire said. “New Smyrna Beach has an aviation museum we go to. To get there, we just taxi our planes down the runway, park and walk to the museum. They have World War II airplanes on display. One time, they had a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. All of the planes are from The Collings Foundation.”
Guest speakers at Villages Aviation Club meetings include Jack Hallett, a famous World War II fighter pilot; Con Ngyuen, the last helicopter pilot to fly out of Vietnam; Fred Greir, a Marine One Pilot during President Ronald Reagan’s administration; and others.
Many Villages Aviation Club members do physical strength training at Seabreeze Regional Recreation Complex in order to keep in excellent shape and have the finest flight experience possible.
Walking, jogging, bicycling and swimming are popular methods to stay in shape for the skies, according to Waymire.
“Most importantly, we have a medical certification we have to maintain every year,” Waymire said. “So we make sure to stay in shape, and we take a basic medical education course.”
To join The Villages Aviation Club, contact Waymire at pilot3795@gmail.com. For more information about The Young Eagles Program, contact Waymire at pilot3795@gmail.com.