I had the most amazing day yesterday. Dad and I met at the airport at 9am to drive up to Mt. Vernon airport and pickup our plane. Dad would drive me up so I could fly it home.
While at the airport, I found a Young Eagles day was going on. Young Eagles is an EAA program to give free airplane rides to kids ages 8 – 17. I’ve been a Young Eagles pilot for a couple years now, but never had been a part of any organized event. I was introduced to “C-rod,” the guy organizing the Young Eagles flights and told him of my interest to fly with the program. He immediately suggested if I could stick around, that I could fly right then.
I flew the Cherokee Six home from Mt. Vernon and landed in Marion about 11:00am. The guys at the Young Eagles table immediately motioned me over, they had kids ready, and the other planes were occupied. A few minutes later, I had two very excited kids loaded in the Cherokee Six and I was rolling down the runway.
Over the next five hours, I flew a total of 11 kids on 5 flights. Some a bit scared and quiet, but most were having a great time, admiring everything from how their houses looked from the air to the shape of a small pond which one insisted looked like Snoopy.
I can’t wait until C-rod calls me to help out with another Young Eagles day, and I want to thank him, and everyone who was working with him to make this a truly awesome event both for me and the rest of the pilots, but most importantly for the kids who had the time of their lives!
For more information about the Young Eagles program, visit www.youngeagles.org.