Next month June 10, 2000, is International Young Eagles
Day. Why mention this in a safety column? Because the safety of our future
lies in the young adults that we will fly today. The best gift we can
give to these young adults is our knowledge of past and present aviation.
To fill them with the enthusiasm and excitement that causes us to look
skyward. I am reminded of Bill Blake’s book, THE BOY WHO LIKED AIRPLANES.
It tells us about Bill’s love of aviation and how he got started. The
neatest thing I did for Bill one day was to let him taxi my Teenie Two
from Mary’s restaurant on Smartt field to the EAA hangar. It was a little
thing but this “BOY” was happy that he got to play a little bit. So it
was for a young 16 year old nephew, named Josh, that stayed at the Jagust
household last month. Seems that he did not believe that HE would be flying
the airplane when we went for his Young Eagle flight on the last day of
his stay. The only thing that I had heard from his Mother was that he
was sure I would not let him actually fly. Well, the morning came and
I dropped the Cessna Instrument panel poster I have in his lap and explained
all the basic instruments. Still, few words were said. The smiles started
to show up when we put his sister in the back seat and he was sliding
into the left seat. After this 36 minute flight little was said to me
about the flight. The drive home later that day with Mom released all
the stored up emotion that was in this young person. “Mom I can take flying
lessons”... “The little airport around Peoria, IL” … “the flight school
there”…”lessons cost”…”I could get a job”…”Bill said we could go flying
again when we come back”…Mom called later that night to say that they
arrived home safely and that this young man has it all figured out how
he is going to do this and that. The thing that touched me the most was
that as I looked at Josh, I was flashing back exactly 25 years in my own
life. A 16 year old boy, riding my bike to Midway Airport in Chicago and
putting down my hard earn cash from washing dishes to take an hour of
dual instruction in a 1976 Cessna 150. Wow! Look where that 16 year old
boy is now! I wondered where Josh will be in 25 years from now? With Young
Eagles Day around the corner it is time to checkout the airship, check
on the medical, check on the Biennial Flight Review, and brush up on the
flying skills. Hopefully the weather will cooperated. Then hopefully we
can focus on and build our EAA Chapter 32 building and inspire a few more
young adults.
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