The Ceil Spaceport in Jacksonville, Florida, is the perfect place for people who set their sights on dreams that may seem (pardon the pun) out of this world. They think differently than many others. For them, faraway locations make the journey so much more worthwhile. Such is the case with Lee Giat, who touched down on one of the spaceport’s runways on January 20 after a 60-day flight to educate and inspire children to embrace careers in aviation and other sciences. There was another benefit to Lee’s trip; a tribute to his late father.

The pilot

Lee’s upbringing included seeing his father, Nissan Giat, fly throughout the Caribbean and South America. He fondly remembers when his father would dress up in Johnny Depp-style Pirate of the Caribbean costume as an homage to his nickname ‘The Pilot of the Caribbean.’ Nissan also taught his son how to fly airplanes and serve communities in need via this critical transportation modality.

Lee is also an astronomy enthusiast and had the opportunity to show children the beauty of galactic gazing via NASA-operated events.

Working at a planetarium, volunteering for NASA, and organizing astronomy events at local schools sparked an interest that continued to develop into an evolving energy source. Le knew he wanted to let motivate underprivileged children to the exciting world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. So, in mid-2020, when the world struggled to understand COVID-19, Lee decided to pursue his dream of inspiring children and organized his plans for a project he named “Passage.”

As he outlined what this mission would be about, Lee decided to hold back on revealing his plan to his father for a few days. “Passage was a project I wanted to do as a surprise for my dad,” Lee told Simple Flying. He would reveal these plans to his father after recording his first promotional video in South Florida, where Nissan lived. Unfortunately, Nissan perished in a tragic air accident two days later and never heard about the inspiring project his son would soon undertake. “I stayed at my dad’s house that night (of the filming), and that was the last time I saw him,” Lee recalled.

The mission

It took a few months for Lee to decide that Passage would continue, and this time, as a tribute to his late father. The next stage was gathering the necessary funding to purchase an airplane and pay for travel expenses and the school supplies he wanted to donate to the children he visited. Large companies paid no attention to his outreach, but the young aviator could rely on his friends and small-business contacts eager to contribute to this worthy cause.

So, Lee eventually purchased a twin-engine Piper Seneca to serve as his flying laboratory. Named "Spirit of Science," it carried school supplies, technology, books, telescopes, and lab equipment directly into the hands of underprivileged teachers and students he visited in the Caribbean and South America.

Lee focused on Latin America because of educational disparity. His research showed that, with over 10,000 students participating throughout the region he visited, approximately 93% live below the poverty line. Lee also points out that children in Latin America are 76% less likely to complete primary school than the international average.

After gathering funding, organizing his plan, and completing all the pre-departure planning (which was extensive), Lee Giat departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on December 3, 2022, for his 60-day journey. The itinerary covered the following destinations:

• Nassau, Bahamas
• Jacmel, Haiti
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• Kingston, Jamaica
• Barranquilla, Colombia,
• Lima, Peru,
• Jujuy, Argentina
• Santiago, Chile

At each stop, Lee and his volunteer team met with government officials and teachers and hosted activities for the children. Some of the events included visits to his airplane and stargazing outings. Lee was taken aback by the conditions some of these children studied in. “The classrooms were surrounded by barbed wire for security. They were basically jail cells," he recalled.

What lies ahead?

On January 20th, Lee completed his last landing of the trip. Touching down at the Cecil Spaceport, he already talked about what lies ahead.

“The goal is to learn and explore what the future of this looks like. We’ve received a lot of great feedback from everywhere we’ve been to. I met with every minister of education in every country I visited, and the plan is to continue doing that."

Lee told Simple Flying that he had private meetings discussing what these officials need and how the Passage team can get involved in what they're doing.

“Some places need more supplies, teachers, or other resources. I'm here to learn and see how we can help."