Tag Archives: Young Eagles

Flying May Happen

19 Sunday Jul 2015

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Young Eagles

Unlike this happy Young Eagle, no flying for me this weekend.

My Cherokee was diagnosed with a sick magneto on Thursday, which had to go to Tulsa for overhaul (hopefully under warranty.) So I had to hitch a ride to Cranland (28M) for the EAA Chapter Fly-In Pancake Breakfast. Which was great. But the highlight of the week was the second round of Young Eagles flights on Saturday morning. Some of our local pilots took 16 more Taunton High School JROTC students up for their first flights in an airplane. The sky was overcast but absolutely calm, and the kids were great, all smiles and polite appreciation. It seemed to be a complete success.

The only sour note – and it was a big one – was our airport manager.

He came over and demanded that we have a $1,000,000 (yes, million!) insurance policy for the “event,” naming the airport as beneficiary. Which is news to all of us, since we’ve been inviting friends to come to the airport and fly with us for years, with no mention of “event insurance.” The Young Eagles were our invited guests, and each pilot and airplane was covered by EAA insurance for Young Eagle flights. The was no invitation for the general public to go flying, no aerobatics, no formation flying, no low passes, no “spectacle.” Just free airplane rides for some very deserving young people.

We polled some other airport managers who told us that Young Eagle flights were no different than any other “not for hire” flight, and that pilots were welcome to bring anyone to their Public Use Airports for a flight. But that wasn’t good enough for our manager, who is not a pilot. He stated that the Young Eagles “Didn’t know what they were getting into,” (whatever that means) even though each had a signed permission slip from a parent. In fact, many of the parents attended to watch and photograph the flights.

Unfortunately, the manager’s tone and conduct was rather shameful for our airport, especially when you consider that our user fees pay for his contract. (The airport does not receive a dime from the city.)  But as Melinda, the president of our association succinctly told him in a letter, “Flying may happen from time to time at the airport.”

Flying Into the Future

12 Sunday Jul 2015

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It’s embarrassing when my leg falls off.

I’m fine when I’m flying, but it happens sometimes when I get out of my Piper Cherokee. Right now, my residual leg (stump) is changing, so until I get fitted with a new socket, twisting out of the pilot’s seat onto the wing and down to the ground can cause my prosthetic leg to slip off.

Which was why I didn’t volunteer to make some of the EAA Young Eagle flights for the Taunton High School Air Force JROTC program this week. Instead, I sat at the reception table doing paperwork. But I was certainly thinking, just let one disabled cadet walk up to this table and I will personally limp out to my airplane and give them their ride!

Get a grip, Doug. Of course there are no disabled youngsters in JROTC, especially for the USAF. After all, we wouldn’t want to set a false expectation, since Johnny can’t go to the Air Force Academy and fly a jet after he lost his arm. And Sally, you’ll never be an astronaut with that artificial leg.

Except that there are service members currently serving as pilots after becoming disabled by limb loss while on active duty. Not to mention the WWII double amputee and Battle of Brittan ace Douglas Bader. So why couldn’t a young person with a pre-existing disability start a military career, if they could otherwise meet the fitness standards? I became disabled in retirement, but the greatest attribute I looked for in new recruits during my 28 year military career was MOTIVATION.

Personally, I believe that the bigger leap is in our minds. But I am certain that there will come a time, out in the big blue sky of the future, when advancements in prosthetics and therapy will make it perfectly normal for disabled youngsters to aim for careers as military aviators and as pilots for the major airlines.

It’s going to be a great day.

BREAKFAST AT KATAMA

We flew to Katama (again) this week for breakfast on the deck, with 8 airplanes: Super Hawk, Pitts, Vans RV, Cardinal, C-150, C-182, Citabria and the Cherokee. Our string of near perfect days continued, and the sky was bright blue and silky smooth. My only brain-lock occurred when we had to be pushed back into a parking spot. I use a bar (or lever) to control the rudder and nose wheel steering with my right hand. Down is left and up is right. Simple. Until I had to steer going backwards, and my brain couldn’t catch up, even though it was a lot easier than backing a trailer. But with Robbie and Mike pushing, we got the airplane parked without trading wingtip paint with the neighbors.

YOUNG EAGLES

As I mentioned, the Taunton Pilots Association flew 16 JROTC cadets on EAA Young Eagle flights this week. We had two Vans RVs, an Aeronca Champ, a Long EZ and a Hawk XP on the line. The kids were great and they really enjoyed it, but I think that the pilots had more fun than any of the teenagers.