EADS SOCATA, EAA Announce Internship Opportunity

Nov. 21, 2006
Those chosen will visit France for a five-week internship, June 6-July 10, 2007, where they will work at an EADS Socata facility and be exposed to a variety of aviation disciplines.

November 20, 2006 - Leading European general aviation company EADS Socata is teaming up with EAA to provide a unique internship opportunity for two college juniors or seniors (one male, one female) pursuing an aviation career. Those chosen will visit France for a five-week internship, June 6-July 10, 2007, where they will work at an EADS Socata facility and be exposed to a variety of aviation disciplines. Those selected will then conclude their summer by attending a weeklong session of the EAA Advanced Air Academy in Oshkosh, providing mentorship opportunities to young people aged 16-18 who are participating in the camp. They'll also have the opportunity to visit and experience the world's greatest aviation celebration, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, July 23-29.

EADS Socata will provide round-trip transportation from the USA to France, as well as local transportation in France and accommodations in the homes of EADS Socata staff members. Each internship also includes round-trip transportation to AirVenture in Oshkosh, local transportation, and accommodations at the EAA Air Academy.

Recipients will visit the EADS Socata factory in Tarbe, France, where the world's fastest single-engine turboprop aircraft, the Socata TBM 850, is built, as well as airframe production facilities for major aerospace programs such as A380 Super Jumbo, Dassault Falcon 7X, and Eurocopter helicopters.

Also included are visits to other EADS Socata facilities (Airbus' final assembly plant in Toulouse and the Ariane rocket launcher integration site near Paris) and a guided tour of the Paris Air Show. The two recipients will be lodged with local families near Tarbes, regional capital of this beautiful Pyrenees mountains area in Southwestern France.

"I hope that this will be part of a process to reinforce transatlantic ties between American and Europe's aviation communities," said EADS Socata Chairman and CEO Stéphane Mayer. "The students who visit us will be able to see with their own eyes that aviation has only one universal language, and that is the shared "passion for flight."

Applicants must be United States or Canadian citizens. For complete eligibility and application requirements, visit www.youngeagles.org/programs/scholarships/internships.asp. The application deadline is February 27, 2007.