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 GREENSBORO — UNCG’s Elliott University Center seemed an odd place to find an airplane fuselage Tuesday, and students streaming by took notice.

Some stopped and climbed into its snug, sports car-size cockpit and twiddled the sophisticated instruments as flight instructor MayCay Beeler talked about how the Liberty XL2’s small size and high-tech design make it ideal for learning to fly.

Nathan Zimmerman, who sells the planes, also thought the demonstration was the ideal way to draw college students to aviation careers.

Grab their attention with the plane, he thought, and they’ll be interested in the substance of his message: a public forum called the “Aerotropolis Summit” that he and the university are presenting April 16.

Zimmerman, a 2007 UNCG graduate, is a regional sales manager for the Liberty plane. A sister company, TAA Flight Training, offers the lessons.

But Zimmerman wants to highlight much more in his industry. He invited top executives from Honda Aircraft, Piedmont Triad International Airport, GTCC and FedEx to participate in the summit.

They’ll talk about the thousands of jobs that experts predict will grow at PTI in the next decade in industries such as distribution, aircraft maintenance and manufacturing.

For Tony Abruzzi, assistant director of career services at UNCG, the summit is a chance to educate and encourage students about careers that can keep them in this region.

“If this does become an aerotropolis” — a city of industry grouped around a major airport — “economic development that comes from it is going to be excellent,” Abruzzi said.

Students could find careers in supply chain management, environmental management, hotels, event planning, finance, even geography and planning.

He’s expecting a big turnout for the forum, which will include a one-hour discussion and 45 minutes for students to meet the executives.

George Johnson, an entrepreneur who runs seven aviation businesses, is Zimmerman’s boss and an example of the business potential for aviation at PTI.

Last year, Johnson became president of Liberty Aircraft USA, which sells the planes throughout the U.S. As owner of TAA, he also now operates one of the first full-service flight training schools at PTI in years.

Anita Wallace is a UNCG student who said Tuesday she may have caught the flying bug at Liberty’s display. A mother of three grown children, Wallace is a full-time student and part-time substitute teacher, but she wants a greater challenge in her life.

Flight training, she said, would be an excellent activity to do with her 22-year-old son.

She was on the edge of being a flight attendant as a trainee when Eastern Airlines shut down in 1991, she said.

“I’ve always been this way, ever since I was a kid,” she said. “A mind is a terrible thing to waste and I’m not going to waste it.”

Wallace said the companies should show this plane mock-up to area high schools because flight training would draw a lot of students.

“On career days, this plane should be there,” she said. “We need good pilots and at this young age.”

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron@news-record.com