CONROE‚ Texas — The second annual MODAERO Aviation Festival will be held May 19-21, 2017, at the Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport (KCXO).

The fly-in targets the growing Millennial demographic, which according to FAA records accounts for more than 48% of all certificated pilots and 78% of student pilots, organizers note.

“We are excited to build upon the inaugural festival, which was held in March,2016,” said Brian Columbus, founder of the festival and non-profit MODAERO #NextGen Aviation Community. “For a first-year event, we were pleased with our progress and learned a great deal about how our industry can better reach this vital group. We were honored to have strong support from industry partners including AOPA, Jeppesen, Zenith Aircraft, EAA, Diamond Aircraft, ExpressJet Airlines and more than 50 other entities.”

Events at the first festival included an aviation career fair, fly-in, educational presentations, static aircraft displays, drone races, live music and keynote speaker Sean D. Tucker.

“We are definitely raising the bar for 2017,” said Columbus. “This upcoming year we will be based on the flight line, offer demo rides and have our first air show activities. We’ve taken the feedback from our commercial partners, sponsors and attendees, so we’re very confident that we are developing a show that will be eagerly anticipated.”

The organization uses the annual event to raise funds for year-round aviation outreach efforts.

“We are developing a number of initiatives for 2017 to help raise awareness of general aviation, encourage STEM education and grow the #NextGen community of Aerospace in Texas and throughout the country. We are also looking for collaborative partners in pursuing a similar mission,” said Columbus.

The MODAERO #NextGen Aviation Community is a non-profit organization that produces the festival and related projects, which adhere to the mission statement: To engage, educate and empower the next generation within the aerospace community.