Things are Happening!

In the couple of weeks since my last post there have been some exciting developments in my little aviation world.

First, our EAA Chapter had another Young Eagles rally and flew a record number of young people.  We did significant outreach to the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in our area and they turned out in droves, especially the Cubs.  They all seemed to have a great time and I've been able to line up some aviation-themed meetings with Cub Scout packs in the upcoming months.

Second, my sons have started working with the online ground school package from Sporty's Pilot Shop that's included with the Young Eagles flight.  My oldest is making great progress and when I've peeked over his shoulder I've been impressed with the format and content of the program.  Getting access to the online training FREE with the Young Eagles flight is a huge benefit and I'm very grateful to Sporty's for their generosity in making it available.

Third, I placed a few ads a while back seeking a donor airplane for our Venture Crew.  Much to my surprise, a very generous gentleman out in Iowa has offered to donate a Fisher Flying Products FP-101 ultralight to our Crew if we will go to Iowa to retrieve it.  I'm making plans for the trip right now but I haven't told the Crew yet.  They'll get their first word of it at our meeting on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to their reactions.  It's most definitely a project plane and it's not clear just now if we'll restore it to full flying condition, or just to use as a static display and teaching aid.  Either way it will be a great learning experience for our Crew.  Wish us luck!

Hopefully this string of positive activity will continue.  It's great being able to work on something I truly enjoy like youth in aviation.

A Few Thoughts On 9/11 - Eight Years Later

I'm sure all of us can recall where we were and what we were doing on that morning eight years ago today.  I was settling into my office for the day when my Mom (who has since passed away) called to tell me a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  Initially my thoughts were that it was an accident but as I watched the coverage and the unfolding events at the Pentagon and here in Pennsylvania it became clear that it was something much more than an accident.  But what I want to call to mind today is not that day directly, but all that lead from it including two wars with the terrible loss of life both by U.S. servicemen and women and innocent civilians.  In the eight years since the attacks of 9/11 our armed services have paid an immense price to fulfill their duty to our country and we owe each and every person who serves our thanks.  Take a moment today to reflect on this and, if you can, to find a way to give something back to those who have served and are serving still in far off corners of the world.

Why did I place this commentary in a blog focused on the Young Eagles program?  Because the starting point for all of this was the evil, intentional misuse of aircraft.  One of mankind's great inventions, capable of bridging the geographic gaps that separate us making the world a closer and more accessible place, was used to terrorize American society and divide the world community.  We must now be on guard against such intentional misuse, whether dealing with commercial or general aviation, and future pilots will have to learn to fly in the aftermath of these events (i.e. ADIZ zones).  I truly wish it wasn't this way and that we could turn the clock back and erase what happened that morning eight years ago today, but none of us can.  We must move forward in a world reshaped forever.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog devoted to developing aviation-related programs to follow the EAA Young Eagles initiative.  The Young Eagles program (www.youngeagles.org) was created by the Experimental Aviation Association (www.eaa.org) to foster interest in aviation among young people age 8 to 17.  It's a fabulous introduction to general aviation and recreational flying that's flown almost 1.5 million young people including my two teenage sons.  The challenge for me, the EAA, and aviation in general is how to provide follow-on activities that maintain the seed of interest in aviation planted or fostered in these young people through their participation in the Young Eagles program.  The EAA in partnership with Sporty's Pilot Shop (http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/) have created a gateway into flight training by offering a logbook and access to an online flight training/ground school portal.  This is a huge step forward and a real credit to the people at EAA and especially Sporty's for their commitment to young people interested in aviation.  But there should be more we can do to provide active, hands-on experiences that really bring the world of general aviation to life.  Principles of flight, aircraft design and construction, flight planning and navigation, and the airspace all around us our topics that can be explored in ways that engage, challenge, and educate young people.  It's my hope that this blog can become a resource for others seeking to extend the Young Eagles program.  Let's get started!