GULF SHORES — International Learn to Fly Day, an event hosted nationwide by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in cooperation with the Gulf Air Center will be held on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Jack Edwards Airport in Gulf Shores.

During this year’s International Learn to Fly Day event, which is free of charge, guests with an interest in aviation will likely discover that learning to fly is not as lengthy nor quite as expensive as you might think. Pilots, flight instructors, aircraft owners, technicians and a medical examiner will be available to discuss the possibilities and enjoyment available in aviation.

“The EAA is a national organization with more than 100,000 members,” explained Jim Henderson, a member of local Chapter 1265 based in Gulf Shores. “There are Learn To Flay Days all across the country at 400 different venues during the month of May.”

According to Henderson the group simply wants others to experience an aspect of life that EAA members have come to enjoy.

“We all feel passionate about what we are doing and about aviation, and we’d just like to share that passion and enthusiasm with others, especially with individuals who have thought about flying but who don’t really know who to talk to about it, what the first steps are, what the physical standards are – things like that. We want to help answer those questions.”

 In addition to the seminar, a limited number of short, free of charge orientation rides by FAA certificated EAA members will be made available by application at the event.

“They will be short, maybe 20 or 25 minutes and they will be on a first come basis,” Henderson explained. “We’ll take off from Jack Edwards here in Gulf Shores, we’ll zip along the coastline, then come back and land. We might give them a chance to take the wheel or the stick for a minute.”

Henderson said that there would also be several types of general aviation aircraft on display including a Cessna Cardinal, a homebuilt RA-3, and the beautiful, historic “Bird of Paradise” bi-plane will also be available for sightseers.

EAA embodies the spirit of aviation through the world’s most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAA’s  160,000 members and 1,000 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building, and restoring recreational aircraft.

For more local information about this event, contact Jim Henderson at 251-968-6135.