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Kids prepare world record tribute to Tuskegee Airmen

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Young people at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) are celebrating Black History Month by making plans to set new aviation world records.
Kelly Anyadiki, 16, will become the youngest African-American female to solo seven airplanes on the same day, and 16-year old Jonathan Strickland will solo seven airplanes and two helicopters in a tribute to the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first African-American military aviators.
The world record events are scheduled to take place at Compton Woodley Airport, 961 W. Alondra Blvd., Compton, CA on March 15, 2008.
“The kids at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum want to tell the world that the heritage of the Tuskegee Airmen is alive and well in a new generation,” says TAM founder Robin Petgrave.
“These new world records the kids will set are an example of where the past meets the present and the future!”
At age 14, Jonathan Strickland became the youngest African American to fly solo in a Robinson R-22 helicopter and a Cessna 152 on the same day. Strickland flew an R-44 with an instructor from Compton, California to Canada to set those records, and in doing so also became the youngest African-American to fly a helicopter internationally, and to fly a helicopter on an international round-trip.
All four of those world records have been recorded by the Smithsonian Museum.
Strickland also appeared on the “Montel Williams Show” to celebrate his accomplishments.
On March 15, Kelly Anyadiki will fly solo in a Piper Tomahawk, a Cessna 150, a Cessna 172 RG, a Cessna 152, a Piper Cherokee 140, a Cessna 172 SP and a Piper Warrior.
Jonathan Strickland will solo in each of those aircraft as well, plus two more flights in a Robinson R-22 and an R-44 helicopter.
Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum is located on the airport in Compton, California at 961 W. Alondra Blvd, Compton CA 90220. The museum offers aviation-themed afterschool programs for more than 800 youth from grades K-12. Kids can take part in projects ranging from washing airplanes to graffiti mitigation. Instead of earning money, kids are earn ‘museum bucks,’ which they can apply toward flight instruction.
For more information, call (310) 618-1155 or (310) 938-2727 or visit http://www.tamuseum.org.

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