PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A retired naval Lieutenant Commander is changing the faces of flying, one kid at a time with his nonprofit. It’s an aviation-focused outreach program that’s more accessible and affordable to socially and economically disadvantaged communities.  

Ricardo Foster said everyone should get the opportunity to know how it feels to fly.

“Each weekend we open the facility here at infinity Aero club to embrace the community, to teach them about aviation, STEM and entrepreneurship,” Foster said.

The retired naval Lieutenant Commander said his love of flying and knowing not many get to experience it from the cockpit, made him want to do more of what he’s doing today. 

“Today we have about 20 to 30 kids here from the inner city,” he said. “A lot of them have never been exposed to general aviation, meaning flying in an aircraft and going around the pattern or flight simulators and drones and we welcome that.”

He also knows how much representation matters. According to the FAA, 94% of pilots are white, 3.4% are Black, five percent are Hispanic and 2.2% percent are Asian. It's why the work Foster and his volunteers are doing is so important. They’re teaching kids aviation, engineering and aviation maintenance.

Using some of the things young people are familiar with like gaming and drones, are part of what makes the program so successful. Getting the kids inside the airplanes and flying, some for the first time in their lives, is how what Foster said really makes a difference.

There’s a runway behind the Infinity Aero Club headquarters where the kids get to see what it feels like firsthand in the air.

It’s that kind of experience that Foster said will take the kids much higher than they could’ve ever imagined.