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Aero Club Foundation of Washington

In 1995, the Aero Club established a tax exempt (501)(c)(3) foundation -- the Aero Club Foundation of Washington. The members of the Aero Club's Board of Governors and its officers serve as the members of the Board of Directors and officers, respectively, of the Aero Club Foundation of Washington. The Vice President of the Aero Club also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation.

The Foundation was established primarily to assume and expand the fundraising efforts that the Aero Club had undertaken in the past in order to support aviation education programs. The main example of such a program was an annual summer jobs program for students interested in aviation, which was coordinated with the National Air & Space Museum and with various aviation-related government agencies and industry trade associations. The Board decided to establish a tax-exempt foundation in order to encourage corporations, individuals and associations to make tax-exempt contributions to the Club's efforts on behalf of aviation education. 

The kick-off event for the Foundation was a "Celebration of Aviation" held at Washington D.C.’s National Airport in September 1998. The event, held at the Signature Flight Support facility, was widely attended and included a static display of modern and classic aircraft. Its success enabled the Foundation to sponsor three separate aviation education initiatives in 1999. 

Since then, the Foundation has been active in sponsoring a number of initiatives that support and foster aviation education in the Washington area schools. Among these is Washington, D.C.'s Cardozo High School’s “TransTech Academy” aviation curriculum, which has received $8,000 in grants. One of the few inner city schools developing an aviation/ transportation curriculum, Cardozo High School was the recipient of flight scholarships from the Aero Club as far back as 1970. In addition, the Foundation has sponsored a summer aviation career camp in conjunction with the US Naval Sea Cadets Corps, and also has provided support for an intern learning the art of aircraft restoration at the National Air & Space Museum’s Garber Facility.

Recently, the Foundation has sponsored and arranged several field trips for students in aircraft mechanics who are in training at the University of the District of Columbia and Frederick (MD) Community College. The students have visited the National Transportation Safety Board’s New York reconstruction site of the TWA #800 aircraft accident. Through these visits, students have learned the art and science of reconstructing aircraft accidents, the lessons of which are used to help the industry minimize the number of future accidents. 

The Foundation has several committees that help further its goals: The Long Range Planning Committee works in developing sources of contributions and identifying worthy recipients; the Special Projects Committee plans and stages fundraising events for the Foundation; and the Sponsorship Committee solicits sponsorship funds for the Foundation.

The Foundation is proud to offer support to advance aviation education and help prepare tomorrow’s leaders in the aviation and aerospace industries. If you would like to support the Foundation, please contact us at (703) 327-7082, or by e-mail at info@aeroclub.org.