On July 14, I had an opportunity to take a 35-minute ride in a big C130 cargo plane with 27 central Vermont youngsters.

I went to Rutland Regional Airport to present diplomas to the 11-14 year-old participants in this year’s Vermont Aviation Career Education Camp – “ACE Camp” for short. ACE Camp is a weeklong, hands-on adventure in aviation and aeronautics, where students get to explore different types of aircraft and see how the science and math they learn in school takes shape and takes to the skies in the real world.

As we flew over the Vermont countryside, I took students into the cockpit, four at a time. I explained the controls, computers, radar screens and other sophisticated equipment the flight crew was using.

As we flew over Brandon, one boy was thrilled to spot his family’s farm below, through the cockpit window.

I was just about his age when I stood near the runway at Burlington Airport, and watched with my dad as the Air National Guard pilots took off in their Air Defender aircraft. When I saw the afterburners kick in, my dreams of airplanes and aviation took off with the plane. I grew up to earn an engineering degree at UVM, design jet fuel systems at Simmonds Precision in Vergennes (now Goodrich Aerospace), and to fly 10,000-plus hours in military and commercial aircraft combined.

That’s a dream I hope more Vermonters will soon have a better opportunity to share.

On August18-19, the Vermont Air National Guard will host an air show to celebrate 60 years of service and to say “thank you” to Vermont. The evening before that, the USAF Thunderbirds, along with aerospace industry and education leaders, will be on hand at the Heritage Flight Facility at Burlington Airport for the first meeting of the newly created Vermont Aerospace and Aviation Association (VAAA). Our mission will be to promote jobs and economic development in the aerospace industry, and to work with Vermont teachers who are educating a new generation of Vermonters who want to work in aerospace.

We are a state known for our dairy products and maple syrup, but aviation and aerospace are also critically important to our state. Did you know that aerospace and aviation contribute close to one billion dollars to Vermont’s economy?

Small companies like GS Precision in Brattleboro, Preci-Manufacturing in Winooski and Lucas Industries in Springfield exemplify the diversity of aerospace companies that produce good jobs for Vermonters. Better known companies like General Electric, Goodrich and IBM employ thousands of Vermonters in aerospace-related jobs. General Electric is at the industry’s forefront -- developing a new breed of jet engine that will save significantly on fuel, reduce emissions dramatically, and be radically quieter. GE’s innovative new turbine blades and lighter materials will revolutionize jet engine performance, and much of it is happening in Rutland, Vermont. Goodrich in Vergennes produces cutting-edge jet fuel measuring systems for aircraft and space vehicles. IBM supplies integrated circuits for commercial and military aircraft systems.

Twenty-seven Vermont companies supply in excess of $35 million in aircraft and space products annually -- to Boeing alone! Pratt and Whitney, Pre-Tech Plastics, Vermont Aerospace, Omega Optical, Quadra-Tek/Arlington Industries and many more Vermont firms bring millions of aerospace dollars into our state each year.

Flying high above Vermont’s green landscape with our ACE Camp passengers, the C130 crew banked for a turn over Fort Ticonderoga, giving us all a spectacular bird’s eye view of the historic site.

I said to those young Vermonters, “What you’re looking at right now is an important part of our history. It’s where we started. And this,” I said, gesturing around the aircraft, “is where we’re headed.” Those youngsters now have a dream for life.
That’s why I am so excited about launching the Vermont Aerospace and Aviation Association.

Anyone interested in joining VAAA or attending our August 17 event, visit www.ThinkVermont.com, or call the Lt. Governor’s office at 802-828-2226.