And a small woo hoo!! I have reached 100 hrs on the project!!! Long ways to go. :)
This weekend I was invited to help out with a Young Eagles event at FTG. My friend Scott Mills (RV9A) tipped me off to this event and asked if I wanted to help. Young Eagles is an EAA sanctioned event where pilots volunteer their time and aircraft to take children for airplane rides. The goal is to promote aviation to the younger generation--the next generation of pilots. EAA set out with the goal of flying 1,000,000 children. They have easily surpassed this milestone and are still clicking along as strong as ever. Actor Harrison Ford is the chairman. I really am a fan of this program as I think, sadly, too many kids never get this oppurtunity and I have always wanted to attend one and volunteer my time. I hope to someday participate with my plane when its finished.
It was a real kick! The children were attending some kind of aviation summer camp sponsored by our local museum, "Wings Over the Rockies". There were about 30 kids ranging in age from about 8 to 12 yrs old. And for almost all of them, this would be their first small airplane ride. One set of parents told me their son hadn't slept at all the previous night because he was so excited! That's priceless in my opinion. My job was to assist with the ground crew. I would safely escort the parents from the terminal out to the ramp where their child was just returning from their flight...which was a perfect front row seat! Of course, the parents were all out there camera in hand to snap photos of the 'ear-to-ear' smiles on their little faces as the prop spun down and they exited the aircraft. It was great to watch and I received many thank you's from parents and grandparents as well! I commonly heard the phrase, "I cant believe you guys do this...it is so nice". Thats pretty cool to hear, even though it wasnt my plane or AvGas that was being donated. :)
I asked all of the kids in my informal post-flight briefing how they like it and it was almost the same for everyone...'Awesome!', "Cool!", "loved it!". I was able to witness their eyes light up and listen to them describe to their parents how they got to actually take the stick and fly! The pilots sure seemed to do a great job with getting them involved in the flight, hats off to them.
I was impressed with the overall setup and organization of the event. Rudy Kniese of local EAA chapter 301 was in charge of running the deal and did a very nice job, it was a smooth and safe operation. All of the kids got a personalized computer printed certificate with their name on it, signed by the pilot and of course Harrison Ford. It was pretty funny to watch one of the kids jump up and down with joy that he got, not the pilot's signature as you might expect, but Harrison Ford's!! haha! Finally an 'official' photo was taken with their plane and pilot. On top of all that, they also got complimentary logbooks and some aviation education software donated by Sporty's to take home. EAA has done a great job with this program and I am happy my membership fees help support this.
Of course, after everything was over with the Young Eagles, it was flying time for the big kids! Scott, Gary Zilik (RV6A) and I flew up to Greeley for lunch and then the customary fuel stop at Platte Valley for some cheap 'go juice'. After we got back to the hangar we sat around and had a few beers and did some hangar flying. I helped Scott wipe off the thousands of bugs we picked up while flying and then I had to skeedaddle...I had Rockies-Cubs tickets for later that evening. What a great day!!!
Here is a shot taken with my iPhone as Scott taxied his RV9A by with his first Young Eagle of the day.
Ron,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post. I love doing ground crew for #301, warms my heart when you see those kids. Rudy runs a great program.
Doug EAA301