Young Eagles

[Snert]

Yesterday our local EAA chapter gave about 220 rides to kids 8 to 17. For those of you who have not participated in one of programs it was one of the more rewarding things I have done in a while. And I only made one little kid cry. But she came back from her ride wanting to go again. The average age of the volunteers was probably in their early 60's We could stand some more young faces in this business.

 

[Alex Clark]

It is one GOOD program of many the EAA engages in....

 

[6 short]

Good for you, snert. I have had some days with one or two kids that were enthused beyond the rest. They would come back and ask if they could go again. I always tried to work them in if we could get a seat. I have asked pilots to stay later than the scheduled time on several occations and I have always had them willing to stay until the last kid had gone. I too found the average age to be older although we have one younger female that really enjoys participating in the Young Eagle program. By the way. save your points, find a worthy kid and help send the kid to camp.

Pat

 

[Bugs66]

Wow, 220 kids in one day! That's pretty darn good. We did around 50 or so at our Chapter Saturday and we thought that was good. Sounds like we have some catching up to to do. I love working these events though, the looks on the kids faces tell it all.

An interesting thing I have noticed is the girls seems to have the most positive reaction. For many of them it seems to be a life changing event. It happens for some boys, but others seem like they enjoyed the ride but can't wait to get back to their Xbox or Playstation. Which is disappointing for my gender. I have two sons, one is all hands on and loves turning wrenches and building things. The other is glued to Xbox and PC. Grrrr! I'm working on changing that but it's not easy.

 

[Snert]

My Cub still has a couple hours to go before the restrictions are off, so I didn't get to give any rides this year. I mostly shuffled papers and entertained the kids while they were waiting. Looking forward to changing that next year.

My Dad was pretty active in the Shriner Kids Hospital and would frequently show up at the airport with some kid on crutches or wheel chair. These were the best rides to give. I remember one little girl with the best attitude I ever saw. It took two of us to get her in the airplane with out bruising her legs and she flew with me quite a bit. She was a real sport and even rode through some mild aerobatics in my Eagle.
I tried looking her up when I was back home this summer and found out that she had gone on to college but had passed on shortly after. I'm sure she didn't give up easy. Who said life was fair.

 

[Snert]

Today we topped last years numbers. 300 kids showed up, 11 chickened out, so we gave 289 rides. The best part is most wanted to fly in the little yellow airplane.

One 12 yr old girl I took for a ride asked " What would Jesus say if he was flying with you today?" I was on my best behavior ( that's possible) but wanted to say "He would say Dave don't F**** up the landing."

A County social worker picked up all her kids(about 10) that were in Foster Care in the county van and brought them out for rides.

One kid was hanging on the chain link fence with his hat on side ways, pants hanging low and boxers showing. One of the other pilots told him to pull his pants cause the FAA was watching. Priceless.

 

[JP]

A few years back I did several Eagles events with the J-3. A couple of kids made quite the impression. One kid cadged two rides out of me. He liked the first one so much that he got in line to do it again "in the yellow plane".

The best one was this kid named Reginald. Reginald got dealt some bad hand, judging from the fact that he wasn't wearing the latest clothes and had thick glasses and massive hearing aids. I told him he'd be right at home with me as I can't hear worth a darn and would pee on my sneakers if I wasn't wearing contacts. We had a great ride.

I hope wherever that kid is now he's still got that grin on his face.

 

[Snert]

I told all the boys that we were going to fly over the swimming pool and check out the "Babes" That worked great until one kid came back and told his Mom what we did. Mom was a good sport but I got the "look" from the fun police.

 

[skagwaypilot]

I'd like to submit one ride I gave as the longest Young Eagle flight. We flew my L-21B from Ft. Worth, TX to OSH and return. On the outbound leg, my 14 year old passenger rode in the back. On the return leg, he sat in front, did most of the piloting except take-offs and landings and used pilotage for navigation. It was a great experience for both of us. He enjoyed flying so much that he eventually got his Private Pilot certificate.

 

[ulpilot]

Was giving rides one day to a family and the youngest, a 2 year old girl wanted to go up. So with her sitting on mama's lap, off we went. She watched me for a bit, then put one hand on the throttle and one on the stick. Did that the whole flight. When we landed she proudly told everyone how she flew the "airpane".

 

[Ruidoso Ron]

In Ft. Worth, each Christmas, we used to give rides for the Miracle Network and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. These were for the benefit of the children with life-threatening illnesses. I used my C180, because each kid had to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. We would take off from Meacham Field, and circle the city after dark. It amounted to about a :15 flight, and the lights were spectacular. It was a memorable experience for everyone concerned. The children were absolutely thrilled, and the parents were all most appreciative, but the pilots enjoyed it most.

 

[murph]

Oh yeah, Ron, when are you going to have it flying?

murph

 

[Ruidoso Ron]

 

[Snert]

We flew 146 Young Eagles today in four hours. The fog didn't burn off until after lunch or it could have been a lot more.

 

[swoeric]

it is amazing we had a deal here not too long ago. i showed up to shuffle papers etc. they had an extra 172 donated for the day (many of the pilots cant attend around here donated their planes to be flown) they were looking for another pilot (they the over 60 crowd) i said i could fly but only had one extra seat. very judgmental looks followed.. wasnt till one of the other older ones vouched that if i could fly my Tcraft weekly id be pretty safe in the 172. funny how fast 6 hrs in right seat goes by. we flew them over the lake and most of their homes. it really was a great time.

 

[fly_cubs]

Dave- I should have driven over and helped. We were fogged and/or rained in at KBUY for most of the day. Had to cancel our YE rally at Oxford-Henderson. I pushed the cub out and had to push it right back in. The only saving grace was that Gene Soucy was still weathered in and he sat in my hangar for hours shooting the ****.

 

[Snert]

I lost count but I think I gave 10 rides to Young Eagles today. The total for all pilots at the rally today was probably over 70.
If you have never flow at a Young Eagle Rally, you owe it to yourself.
One kid asked me while he was flying if the marble was supposed to be on zero. It took a second.
Will post some photos when I get them.

 

[btracy]

While the young eagles program is great and its good to get them early and try to get them involved in aviation. Young kids really cant afford to fly. There should alos be an "OLD BUZZARDS" program to give rides to people that are older, the empty nesters that now have some extra money. I am always finding some one that wants a ride but they are afraid to ask or have never been given the chance.

 

[Speedo]

That's a great point, Bill. I'll definitely keep that in mind when I have a chance to give rides.

 

[Snert]

There is a program for that. I forget the name. We call it Bald Eagles though.

 

[Snert]

Here is the link to this little known EAA program.
http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/flight-experiences/eaa-eagle-flights-program-start-your-flight-training
I guess it's just called Eagle Flights. I kinda of like the Bald Eagles better. .

 

[btracy]

Obviously some EAA groups are a lot more active than others, and are better at getting events going. But as a whole I never see the EAA or AOPA do much serious promoting out side there own magazines. If you are subscribed to the magazine you are most likely already involved in aviation in some way.
I had the good fortune to visit a Canadian Event this spring called "Girls Fly Too" It was open to all women and they gave over a 1000 rides in 2 days. As we was also there to do some vacationing and site seeing we visited several local attrations. What did we see at these attractions. There was posters all over the area advertising this event. In the local parks, the grocery stores, plus an all out Social Media campaign. When was the last time you seen an advertisement promoting flying in Motorcycle World or Road and Track or any other magazine that might have a captive audience.

 

[WindOnHisNose]

Bill, your point regarding some EAA Chapters being more active with Young Eagles than others is spot on. The EAA 551 Chapter in a nearby town gave 40 some rides yesterday, whereas the EAA Chapter 237 at our airport had NOT ONE YOUNGSTER SHOW UP! Pissed poor planning, is my guess, and I was majorly disappointed to hear of this.

Snert, I echo your encouragement to become involved with giving Young Eagles rides. For crying out loud, the EAA has worked out the "informed consent" process to an art form, and it is only by getting kids interested will our pastime be continued.

The MN Pilots Association is making an effort to coordinate these Young Eagle activities, as we see our role in MN in interfacing between EAA, AOPA and the local airports. I am so happy that you posted your remarks. Very timely for us here in MN, and very helpful.

Randy

 

[Snert]

Many of the counties in North Carolina require a "Senior Project" for their high school students. One young man organized a Young Eagle Rally. There were no pilots in his family. His major motivation was the YE ride he got a couple years ago. He did radio and newspaper interviews and over a hundred kids showed up. Give that kid an "A"
One of the chapters that I belong to accrued enough Young Eagle points from EAA to send a kid to EAA camp this summer.

 

[Scouter]

I did some young eagle flights last summer at the local flyin. I hopped about 20 kids one at a time. I had about kid 12 in the back when we just started to rejoin the pattern to land. The organizers had scored a warbird visit of a P51, a zero, and a B25. These guys called in a straight low pass. I told my rear seat kid he just became the luckiest young eagle ever. We watched a smoke on formation pass of all three from a high downwind. I dont think the kid understood what he was seeing, but the big kid up from had a slack jaw.

jim