Article and Photos By Ted Luebbers
The Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 534 flew 17 youngsters at a Young Eagles event at the Leesburg International Airport in Leesburg, Florida on Saturday, December 21, just four days before Christmas.
The Young Eagles and their parents started to gather at the Chapter 534 EAA hangar at 9 am to fill out their paperwork and listen to the orientation instructions given by the chapter’s president and chief Young Eagles pilot, Joel Hargis.
He mentioned that the day’s mission was to take all the young people for their first General Aviation flight and have a good time. He stressed the safety aspect of the program by telling the group that each pilot will do a pre-flight of their aircraft along with each Young Eagle passenger. During this time the various parts of the plane will be explained to each kid and they are encouraged to ask any questions they might have.
He talked about being safe out on the ramp where their airplanes were waiting and to pay attention to their ramp escorts who were wearing the blue EAA shirts.
He said at some point in the flight a young person who is seated in front of the controls in the right seat may be asked if they would like to fly the plane by their EAA pilot. If they want to try it, they will be given some instructions and actually fly the plane under the watchful eye of their pilot.
EAA Chapter 534 sponsors this Young Eagle event every month except during the summer. They do this to give young people the experience of flight in a single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter.
It is the hope of EAA that this will inspire young people to one day become private pilots and/or later on in life seek out a career in the aviation field.
This program is open to any young person, ages 8 to 17 and there is no charge. Local EAA pilots all over the world volunteer their time, airplanes and fuel to acquaint the Young Eagles with the wonders of flight.
The National Experimental Aircraft Association has chapters at many local airports in this country as well as throughout the world. All people have to do is contact the national organization at < www.eaa.org > to find out the closest EAA chapter that offers the Young Eagle program. When you contact the local chapter, you will find out where to go and make a reservation for their next Young Eagle event.
The chapter provided six single-engine fixed-wing aircraft and pilots. They also provided ten other chapter volunteers to make sure the forms got filled out correctly, run the computer, answer questions about the aircraft building projects in the hangar and escort folks back and forth to the ramp.
If you would like to find out more about the Young Eagles program or EAA Chapter 534 in Leesburg, you may go to the following web sites. < www.534.eaachapter.org > or < www.eaa.org/join >
