ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

Well Saturday I got to do one of the big things i have been looking forward to about having my license. I took up my first young eagle passenger ride. i got up a little extra early, walked out to my hangar and preflighted the Eros and taxied it down to the flight line to be used as a static display because kids absolutely love that little bird. I then went into our club hangar and preflighted and pulled out the cherokee 140 that i was to give rides in. we got our pilot briefing and man did we have the turn out on pilots 8 of us.

Well the first form the give me was a girl that had come with her family and all her siblings were going and they were trying to make her also but she refused, not how i had hoped to start my first young eagles day. well i get a different form and get this girl who is terrified of heights but going to go anyway. she was about 15 with her parents teasing her about not flying the plane because of how her drivers training was going, lol. Why couldn't my first one be one of those excited and happy kids??????? well it was only 9:30 but we already had a pretty stiff crosswind kicking up and some pretty good bumps up there but she actually did pretty good and after a few minutes  i had her take control of the plane and fly for a few miles then make a 90 degree left turn (i took care of rudder to keep the turn coordinated) after that it was time to turn back towards the airport and i took back the plane and had to get us back down the 400 feet she had climbed to keep us under flint's outer class c shelf. well with the 15 mph and gusty crosswind it was not my smoothest approach but it was safe with a decent landing. she actually had a good time but was still scared of heights.

i asked about us switching to runway 27 but they said they wanted to stick with the longer runway for now so i said that i would take a break then because although i knew i could fly the kids safe i also knew the guys with many more hours and years of experience could do it smoother and since we are trying to encourage kids and not scare them i figured that was the better choice. so it was time to help encourage in another way. since i had already preflighted and topped off fuel in the Eros and it has no problems with a short runway it was off we went to put on a show. I did 3 low passes with smoke on and all the kids got really excited seeing this small plane they had just been looking at was now flying by right in front of them putting out a cool smoke trail. after that i came in and put her down on the grass right in front of them and pulled it back into its parking spot on the flight line.

So even though i only got to take up one passenger that morning it was a great experience that i look forward to repeating many many times in the future.

Thunder,
Congratulations on your first Eagles flight. My old EAA chapter used to do Young Eagles one Saturday each month, I hope they still do. It is a rewarding experience, keep it up. Oh, and to your comment about "older more experienced pilots", you worked for your ppl, satisfied your CFI and your check ride examiner. Don't sell yourself short, you are a PILOT and your lack of flying hours only mean that you probably pay more attention to "doing it right" than the older guys. Most kids probably get jostled around more at Disneyworld (or other amusement parks) than they do riding with you. The smiles on their faces is worth the time and effort.

Gary

Gary, Thank you for your words of encouragement. our chapter does it anytime we can get a large group of kids together, there have been times we went 2-3 months without doing one (sometimes longer in winter) and other times it is 2-3 times in one week. many of our pilots are retired guys with very flexible schedules which works out great for those kinds of events (I actually had to take a vacation day so i could participate). as for calling it a day early i look at it this way, flying falls into 3 main catagories smooth, safe, and dangerous. i know i have enough skill that i could have been safe but i still think my fellow pilots have more skills to put them into the smooth catagory with what the weather conditions were, (even though i did see one of the guys drop in a 150 a bit) and for anyone who has not been to one of these you need to get there whether you are flying kids, helping with the registration stuff or just out there to see the smiles it is an experience like no other. i can also tell you the kids love minimaxes and airbikes so get them out there and let the kids get up close and check them out, you won't regret it

Just saying. I flew Champs with two friends who had many hours. One was a WWII B-17 pilot who had so many hours he didn't bother to log them anymore and the other who had several thousand hours over many years. I would fly through a hurricane with my B17 buddy IF he said we could do it. The other guy I was never comfortable flying with. So, there is experience and then there is EXPERIENCE. My point was that all pilots are not created equal so don't let the fact that you can't match someone's hours make you feel any less capable. The fact that you were concerned about "conditions" say's that safety was your primary concern. That is the mark of a good pilot. Keep flying the kids every chance you get. We had a kid who was our "airport bum" and was always hitching a ride. He graduated from Embry Riddle and today is an airline pilot. You might just be giving the first flight to a future astronaut.  

Gary

you are very right about that and as a matter of coincidence we have a pilot who started out as a young eagle, started taken lessons (and was fortunate enough to have parents who could not only afford too but also believed in him enough to have him in 2 different flying clubs and training with multiple instructors), on his 16th birthday soloed 4 different planes, on his 17th took his private and instrument check ride, and now at 18 is commercial rated and a cfi, cfii, sel, mel, and who knows how many other ratings already and will be starting at Embry Riddle daytona in august. and it all started with a young eagles flight and now he has been on the other end giving young eagles rides and was also out there saturday with a 182rg giving rides and building his complex airframe time.

I have never had the fortune of being able to get all those ratings.  Would love to be able to take the kids flying.  Maybe one day.  Anytime I have mentioned it at our airport, I get the negative
factor.  One day I will have my own plane and can take up who I want, when I want.
Thunder, keep on putting the smiles on those kids faces.  

Flyer,
Keep on chugging and one day you will get those things you long for. I wanted to fly when I was in Middle School but didn't realize the dream until I was 42. As, to the Young Eagles program there are questions in play that cause some pilots to have a negative view of the program. Check with the EAA and get some materials that might ease their fears. There are questions about insurance, liability and etc.that they can answer for you. We were lucky to have several attorney's in our club who could clarify such things. It's a worthwhile program that doesn't take that much time and/or effort. The rewards are worth it.

Gary

Gary
I, like you, wanted to fly when I was a very little boy but finally got my license when I was 42 but now I am doing good to pay the bills.  There is no extra and I am working a job and a half. One day
things will have to get better.  I keep trying to be positive.  

Michael

Michael,
I am hopeful that things will change in the near future. One of my kids has been in that lay off merry go round and it ain't a pretty thing. I consider myself lucky to be retired and not fighting that demon. Lost enough in the downturn to buy several Maxes, unfortunately, but am in better shape than many I know. Hang in there and keep the flying dream in sight.

Gary