AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 112
PILOTS FLYING FOR THE CULTURE
Courtland Savage
Expanding aviation's reach
LOGBOOK
WHO | Courtland Savage
HOURS | "Right at about
B Y J I L L W. TA L L M A N
1,500."
FAVORITE AIRCRAFT | The
C-17 Globemaster, "the first
I worked on and wanted
to fly."
EXTRA | The name "for
the culture" is taken from
hip-hop trio Migos' song
Culture National Anthem.
@flyfortheculture
flyfortheculture.org
112 | AOPA PILOT February 2020
EMAIL jill.tallman@aopa.org
JIM SCHMID
COURTLAND SAVAGE did not grow up living and
breathing aviation. He had a fear of heights. He saw
airplanes at the Charlotte, North Carolina, airport,
where he would occasionally go with his father. But
he never saw anyone who looked like himself flying
an airplane, so he didn't think that was a possibility.
All this changed when Barack Obama was elected
president in 2008. About to graduate high school,
Savage decided that if a black man could become
president, he could become a pilot. His parents were
a bit skeptical. He'd never stuck with anything before.
But they cosigned a loan for him to take flight lessons,
which he repaid by working part-time scrubbing pots
and pans in a hospital kitchen. After he obtained his
private pilot certificate, Savage enlisted in the U.S. Air
Force Reserve and became crew chief on a Boeing C-17
Globemaster. He earned a bachelor of science degree
from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and eventually he applied for the U.S. Navy's Officer Candidate
School. He trained in the McDonnell Douglas T-45
Goshawk and the F/A-
18 Hornet and was at
the top of his class.
Today Savage is a
pilot for a regional airline. In his spare time
he runs a nonprofit, Fly
for the Culture (FFTC),
whose aim is to give
underserved children a
chance to see what aviation is all about. Fly for
the Culture organizes
introductory flights for
children. FFTC also collaborates with airports,
airlines, and manufacturers to offer control tower tours; tours of maintenance
facilities; and simulator sessions. The nonprofit also offers a $1,500 flight
training scholarship, and it is partnering with area flight schools to give students discounted flight instruction.
Savage got the idea for the nonprofit after taking his cousins for sightseeing flights in a Cessna 150. "They loved it," he said. "They wanted to go up over
and over." And he loved being able to do that for them. "I've flown F-18s, but
that feeling-seeing their eyes open to something that they never even thought
could exist [for them] was the greatest feeling in my life."
He's flying the Embraer CRJ700 and 900 in his current job, and he will
transition to the CRJ550 in early 2020. On his days off, Savage spends hours
doing administrative and social media tasks for FFTC, answering emails and
making phone calls, setting up events and sharing his love of aviation with
young people. "I love it," he said. "I'm about the mission and the mission only."
FFTC focuses on diversity and inclusion, but Savage wants one thing
known: The program is for all children. "I'm not asking for 20 percent of
pilots to be black," he said, "just to put out there that these opportunities exist.
I'm doing my part to let that be known."
AOPA
http://www.flyfortheculture.org
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 4
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 7
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover4
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