At Mauna Loa Helicopters, education and community outreach are essential to our mission as a flight school. That’s why we were thrilled to participate in the annual STEM Fest with the Girl Scouts of Hawaii on November 2, 2024, on the Big Island. This event allowed us to share our passion for aviation with over 100 young girls, giving them a hands-on experience that we hope will spark their interest in flying and encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Our team of flight instructors and aviation enthusiasts eagerly jumped into volunteer, guiding these young minds through the basics of aerodynamics and introducing them to what it takes to become a pilot. The girls participated in hands-on activities, including building paper airplanes and mini helicopters, which allowed them to see firsthand the principles of flight in action. Through these simple but powerful activities, the girls understood how aircraft can lift off, stay in the air, and maneuver—concepts foundational in aviation.
For Mauna Loa Helicopters, events like the STEM Fest are more than just outreach; they’re about inspiring the next generation of aviators and showing young people, especially young girls, that the sky is not the limit but just the beginning. By partnering with organizations like the Girl Scouts, we aim to break down barriers and encourage youth to dream big, especially when it comes to fields like aviation, which have traditionally been male-dominated.
Seeing the excitement on the girls’ faces as they flew their paper airplanes and watched their mini helicopters take off reminded us why we love what we do. Aviation is not only our passion but a journey of learning, resilience, and continuous growth. We hope that by introducing young people to aviation early on, we can help cultivate their curiosity and plant the seeds of knowledge that will one day blossom into successful careers in aviation.
We are proud to be part of the Big Island community and look forward to future opportunities to inspire and educate. Together, we can help shape a future where more young women are encouraged to take to the skies, pursuing their dreams of becoming pilots, engineers, and aerospace professionals.
Thank you to the Girl Scouts of Hawaii for inviting us to be part of such a wonderful event. To everyone who participated, we hope to see some of you in the cockpit one day!