Roots2Wings · Aviation and STEAM pathways
We preserve aviation history to open the future.
Donald A. Hall and others built the Spirit of St. Louis for Lindbergh’s historic flight, sparking the dawn of global aviation. We anchor the next generation in historical roots to inspire them into STEAM pathways.
The Collection is the engine
Original evidence makes possibility personal.
Donald A. Hall’s drawings, photographs, correspondence, and design record show that historic flight was not magic. It was a sequence of questions, calculations, tests, trades, and team decisions. Flying Over Time preserves that evidence and uses it to ask a forward-looking question: what might you help build?
The career map
Flight begins long before takeoff—and continues long after landing.
Roots2Wings begins with drones and aviation, then widens the view to the STEAM roles that keep people, aircraft, information, and businesses moving safely.
Build
Design, engineering, and manufacturing
Aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, materials, electronics, fabrication, testing, and systems integration.
Operate
Drones and autonomous systems
Responsible flight operations, mission planning, sensing, mapping, inspection, data capture, and Part 107-aligned pathways.
Protect
Maintenance, quality, and safety
Technicians, inspectors, human factors, quality assurance, compliance, risk, and the discipline that keeps flight trustworthy.
Compute
Software, data, and AI
Avionics, simulation, cybersecurity, analytics, fleet intelligence, robotics, and the systems behind modern operations.
Explain
Media and technical communication
Photography, film, journalism, design, public history, documentation, and translating complex work for real people.
Connect
Business and public systems
Airports, logistics, insurance, law, finance, policy, entrepreneurship, customer experience, and community infrastructure.
Not every future engineer looks like one at fifteen.
The Roots2Wings pathway
Curiosity needs somewhere to go.
Roots2Wings is designed as a six-stage journey. It does not promise one career; it helps each participant see choices and reach a credible next step.
- Discover
Find an anchor
Begin with a person, object, problem, place, or story that makes technical work feel human.
- Explore
See the whole ecosystem
Meet pilots alongside maintainers, engineers, drone operators, analysts, communicators, safety teams, and business builders.
- Practice
Use tools responsibly
Fly, simulate, design, inspect, document, analyze, communicate, and make decisions through supervised practice.
- Build
Create something attributable
Produce a capstone or work sample that a teacher, mentor, employer, or future participant can understand.
- Prepare
Choose a reachable next step
Identify a course, club, credential, visit, project, apprenticeship, internship, or other documented referral.
- Connect
Meet someone who knows the next door
Reach a mentor, educator, training provider, employer, or program able to explain what that door actually requires.
How impact will be judged
Applause is welcome. Evidence is better.
The intended pathway is designed around observable work and documented choices—not inflated reach numbers.
A capstone, flight plan, inspection, analysis, design, presentation, or other attributable product.
A participant selects a course, credential, mentor, visit, project, internship, club, or referral.
Consent, attendance, safety, completion, referral, and follow-up records show what actually happened.
Spirit100 · The big public plan
The centennial arc runs April to June.
San Diego → St. Louis → Paris. Each planned stop joins source material, public storytelling, and visible pathways into aviation and STEAM.
San Diego
California
Engineering, construction, student work, and the teams behind the aircraft.
St. Louis
Missouri
The centennial gathering and the community behind the Spirit’s name.
The historic destination—and a forward-looking international aviation and STEAM story.
Build the route with us
Help make the next door visible.
Students need access—but they also need adults who know where the doors are. Schools, educators, mentors, instructors, employers, credential providers, hosts, and funders can help turn a strong pathway design into documented opportunity.