Members of Young Pilots USA, along with our supporters and friends, received the following message from Founder & President Luc Zipkin last week:
"It is with profound disappointment that I'm writing to the whole Young Pilots USA community today– Members, supporters, and friends –to announce that the 2023 edition of the Goodspeed Fly-In, our biggest annual event and one of just two aviation events worldwide planned and staffed entirely by young pilots and aviation enthusiasts, will be cancelled.
As a result of a multi-year construction project on the East Haddam Swing Bridge near Goodspeed Airport which makes access difficult, as well as ongoing logistical challenges, we have decided to terminate this year's event with the hope and goal of returning to Goodspeed soon with the substantial necessary infrastructure in place to run a successful event that is inviting, wide in scope, fun, and most of all, safe. While major programming within the Tunison Foundation, our parent organization, may make our return in 2024 uncertain, it is definitely our plan to return to Goodspeed in 2025.
In the meantime, we will be focusing on growing Young Pilots USA significantly through our presence at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2023 and beyond, as well as increasing our offerings to our Member base, in terms of career and educational networking opportunities. We are still experiencing a major gap in funding for some Oshkosh expenses, so please kick in what you can here. Thank you very much to all of our supporters. I look forward to seeing many of you at Oshkosh, and as always, don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas."