Take flight with the Young Eagles

MT. PLEASANT - Area kids can take to the skies in October as the Young Eagles Fly-In is set for Oct. 5.

The Mt. Pleasant Kiwanis club's Annual Young Eagles Fly-In will take place at Mt. Pleasant Airport on Saturday, Oct. 5. Kids ages 8 to 17 will have an opportunity to fly in planes with pilots for free beginning at 8:30 a.m. In order to participate, children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and must complete a registration form.

Kiwanis member and event organizer Steve Gray said the club has been sponsoring the event for the last 20 years and is working this year with the Burlington Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Young Eagles Program (Chapter 700) to make the event possible. The Young Eagles chapter provides the pilots and planes and does the flying during the event. All pilots involved with the program are licensed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The fly-in is part of a larger national program that many EAA Young Eagle chapters across the nation partake in. The EAA, an international aviation membership association founded in 1953 and based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, created the Young Eagles program in July of 1992 after realizing in the 1980s that there would soon be a shortage in pilots. According to Gray, the initial goal of the program was to reach 1 million children to hopefully inspire an interest in flying. Since 1992, the program has provided more than 1.5 million flight experiences for children. On the EAA fly-in registration form, the organization says they hope the flight gives children 'new perspectives on the world and life in general.”

Jeff Diewold, the president of the Burlington chapter noted that the first fly-ins generally start in June. Diewold has been the local chapter president for about 10 years and said he's seen the impact the fly-ins often have on children.

'It's important because it gets kids interested in aviation. Some people take their first young eagles rides and end up making careers out of it,” Diewold said. Diewold has been a pilot since 1993. Flying planes is a personal passion that he enjoys sharing with children.

'The best reaction is always the big smiles from kids. I've had a couple that got scared and wanted to land immediately, but most really enjoy it.”

Diewold noted that flights generally go for 15 to 20 minutes with planes cruising at about 1,000 feet. Gray and Diewold both anticipate about 50 to 80 local children and children from Burlington to attend the event on Saturday, with five to seven pilots flying.

In participating in the fly-in, children will be registered with the EAA and will be entered into the national log book as well as receive a certificate.

Before the Kiwanis club's involvement, the event was hosted by a different organization that Gray says eventually 'fizzled out.” Kiwanis saw an opportunity to help continue the youth-oriented event for the community, which was what motivated the club's sponsorship.

'It's a really worthwhile program. Many of the kids have never flown before or been on an airplane … it's goal is really to plant a seed to get kids interested in aviation,” Gray said.

For more information on the event, contact Steve Gray at 319-385-3243.