Archive: Around Town

Last Saturday kids got to have their first ride in a small aircraft, and even got to take the controls at the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) Young Eagles day.  Almost 100 kids from 8 to 17 were invited to the East Hill Flying Club to get a free ride and a taste of what it takes to become a pilot.

"It's to try to stir the pot in terms of their interest level," says EAA Chapter 811 member Dale Anderson, who organized this year's event.  "The first flight is the key to get them up in a plane and experience what a light plane is all about, how it works, and give them the controls and let them fly a bit."

In addition to flying the planes, kids got to fly a flight simulator, view small planes including Anderson's own Sonex two-seater, and participate in a weather station and a navigation station.  Younger kids got to sit in an airplane parked outside the hangar.


"We put kids through a kind of mini-ground school," Anderson says.  "We try to get them to do that before they go flying to tune them in to the things the pilots are concerned with, and to try to explain what it takes to get a pilot's license.  A lot of kids coming off their flight have questions, so we send them to these stations to get answers."

"As a country we're looking at the STEM program: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math," says EAA member Art Muka.  "Hopefully a Young Eagles flight will encourage a boy or a girl to become more enthusiastic about school.  This will help them and our country."

All those things were generating a lot of interest, but the highlight of the day was an actual airplane ride.  Local EAA member pilots took the kids up, and those lucky enough to sit in the front seat even got to take the controls for a little while to see what flying is really like.  That experience raised many questions, and the stations set up in the East Hill Flying Club hangar sought to answer them.

"There are so many things to see and do," Anderson says.  "That's the basis of this, to provide stations that pique the right questions and provide the right answers.  We also want them to tune into what goes on in an airport.  They'll be hearing some conversations with the tower, the handling of airplanes on the ground, which is really a safety issue.  We want them very sensitive to safety.  The fire trucks are a part of airport operations.  Kids are always interested in fire trucks.


"If they're really interested in aviation we can talk about the differences: the taildragger versus tricycle gear, high wing versus low wing, how many blades on a propellor... that's a big fun part of it."

The EAA began the Young Eagles program in 1992.  Since it began more than 1.5 million kids have flown in the program in more than 90 countries around the world.  43,000 EAA pilots have volunteered their time and skills to fly the kids.

The co-directors of the program are Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles chair the national program.  Last year they famously and safely landed a US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River, saving hundreds of lives when a flock of birds disabled the planes engines.  Actor Harrison Ford, who is a pilot and an EAA member, chaired the program for five years before handing over the baton to Sullenberger and Skiles in 2009.   Before Ford, Chuck Yeager served as chairman.  Young Eagles is one of about a half dozen youth programs the organization hosts.


Anderson's Sonex is a kit plane manufactured in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is also the home of the annual EAA Fly-in that attracts 10,000 home-built planes and over 500,000 aviation buffs from all over the world.  He has been working on the plane in his garage for the past two years.  He is now getting ready to check the fuel lines and run the engine for the first time, a sign that it is getting close to completion.

"I strongly recommend that," he says.  "It is very possible to build a plane in your garage.  I got a ride in a Sonex in Oshkosh.  It was fantastic, like a miniature fighter plane."

That kind of joy was evident all day as kids returned from their flights.

"I love to see the kids' expressions as they come out of the airplanes after they've had their flight," Anderson says.  "I'll never forget my first flight.  It was in an old 1942 Republic SeaBee off the water.  One of our members, Mike Shea, is restoring one.  I can't wait!"

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