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It was because of a small advertisement, my mom found in the local newspaper, promoting the Young Eagles Air Academy Program, that I found my way to Flabob Airport, for the first time, and attended the one week Air Academy for kids my age. At the completion of the Air Academy, participants are taken up for their first flight during a Young Eagles fly day. On the day I was to take my flight, there were several volunteer pilots and there planes, but one in particular was an old open cockpit bi-plane that I so wanted to fly in. When it was finally my turn to fly, that yellow bi-plane had just landed and was looking for another kid to take up. That kid was me. The flight in that bi-plane was everything I had dreamed it would be and more. |
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The Young Eagles Program
The Young Eagles program, at Flabob Airport, is sponsored by EAA Chapter One and is where more than 12,000 youngsters have received their first experience in flight, just as I did several years ago. I continue to stay involved with the Young Eagles program, volunteering time at the monthly fly days, to help the pilots with loading and unloading of their aircraft and instructing the Young Eagle participants with such things as plane walk downs and flight safety.
The monthly Young Eagles fly days, at Flabob Airport, are very busy with between 30 and 100 participants, as many as a dozen volunteer pilots and usually a dozen or so young volunteers, like myself, to assist. At the end of the day, if the pilots are not worn out, they often bring any young volunteer, that would like to, up for a flight. These flights provided me several opportunities to “take the stick” and fly the plane, long before I started with my formal flying lessons.
The purpose of the Young Eagles program is to spark interest in aviation with kids between the ages of 8 and 17. Participants of the Young Eagles program are provided with a “no cost” opportunity to experience flight, in a general aviation aircraft. Participants also learn a bit about general aviation such as performing pre-flight inspections, reading charts, understanding the controls and of course the thrill and experience of flight.
Flabob is also one of five sites, in the U.S., chosen by the EAA to host Air Academy day camps.
To learn more about the Young Eagles Program or to find the closest volunteer pilot, you can visit the Young Eagles web site.
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EAA Chapter One
Shortly after Paul Poberezny founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), in 1953, Paul invited well known aircraft designer Ray Stits, who was home based out of Flabob Airport, to be a member of the EAA. Ray thought that the EAA was a wonderful idea but thought the travel to Milwaukee, for meetings, was a bit to far from Southern California. Ray offered a suggestion that chapters be formed and with the EAA bylaws amended, in early 1954 the first EAA chapter charter was issued. Ray Stits formed EAA Chapter One, the mother chapter of all EAA chapters and the largest EAA chapter in the world. Chapter One is still a highly active chapter with founder, Ray Stits, along with charter member, Clayton Stephens, still regular participants of Chapter One functions and meetings.
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