The Bob Hoover Academy is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. We create opportunities that inspire at-risk and underserved teens to get engaged in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics) education and to take flight in aviation. Aviation is a metaphor for the deeper mission, to capture students’ minds, focus their energies and to cultivate success in the classroom and in life.
Each student earns admission into our flight training program by exceling in our ground training curriculum. From there, the ultimate transformative experience is to leave the instructor on the ground, take an airplane into their own hands and fly solo. Students become accountable to themselves and their teammates, challenging themselves in order to participate in an endeavor that can have a measureable impact on their future; ultimately, they develop the skills and confidence to launch themselves out of their current orbit towards a course as a dynamic and contributing member of society.
Dating back as far as powered flight itself, testimony has attempted to describe the experience of flight and the transformative effect it has on the pilot. From the pioneers who first flew the Wright Flyer, to the 16 year-old who just yesterday soloed her Cessna 152 into a perfect full-stall landing, the mystique, the science and the adventure of piloting an airplane is one of the most satisfying, confidence-building and unique achievements life has to offer. We have made that transformative premise the basis for the Bob Hoover Academy.