How many of you pilots got your first taste of aviation through the Experimental Aircraft Association‘s Young Eagles program?
Created in 1992, Young Eagles offers free airplane rides to children between the ages of 8 and 17 as a means of sharing the joy of flight. As of January 14, some 2,466,603 Young Eagles have taken to the skies, and the organization wants to see that number grow, aiming for 2.5 million Young Eagles being flown by EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July.
Many of the pilots involved in the initiative began as Young Eagles, like program manager David Leiting Jr., who oversees EAA Young Eagles from headquarters in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
“I view my role more as the lead caretaker of a program that was built on over three decades of volunteer passion and dedication,” said Leiting. “At the end of the day, we are here to support those volunteers and ensure the program is impacting lives for decades to come.”
Leiting took his first Young Eagles (YE) flight in 2002 at AirVenture at Oshkosh in a DC-3 that kicked off the afternoon airshow. He notes this was prior to EAA’s maximum of three Young Eagles per flight. His second YE flight was in 2008 with EAA Chapter 414 with pilot Stephen Ulrey.
Leiting went on to become a YE coordinator for EAA Chapter 1342 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
“As a volunteer pilot, I have flown 80 Young Eagles,” he said.
How It Works
Young Eagles “rallies,” as they are known, are put on by volunteer pilots who are EAA members and offer airplane rides for free. The local EAA chapter may work with an FBO or flight school to present the event, which often includes age-appropriate ground lessons and crafts for the kids and a barbecue.
It takes a village to make these events happen, as in addition to pilots, there are coordinators and ground volunteers to make sure it all runs safely and smoothly. The flight schools and FBOs that play host to the events donate their spaces, and sometimes their staffs, to help out, and it becomes an annual or semi-monthly event.
Spencer Aircraft at Pierce County Airport-Thun Field (KPLU) in Puyallup, Washington, has hosted EAA Young Eagles rallies many times.
“Hosting this event is something we truly believe in—giving young people the opportunity to experience flight, often for the very first time,” said Duane Wetherbee, vice president of Spencer Aircraft. “By providing our hangar as a gathering place, we help create a welcoming environment where kids can learn about aviation, meet pilots, and discover what’s possible in the world of flying. Watching their excitement as they take to the skies never gets old, and it reminds us why general aviation is so important.”
Young Eagles is often not a one-and-done affair, as the program often inspires youths to pursue aviation as a hobby or career—even if they are a few years too young to begin training. The EAA provides online tools via Young Eagles Flight Plan to nurture their curiosity.
A Pilot’s Perspective
Participating in Young Eagles can be very rewarding. You get to experience aviation for the first time through the eyes of the children and answer the questions of parents who may not know anything about aviation or becoming a pilot but want to encourage their interest.
It can be hard to say who gets the most out of a Young Eagles flight—the children or the pilots.
“The Young Eagles program holds a special place in my heart,” said Mathieu Labs of Clintonville, Wisconsin. “It offers young people an experience that can change the course of their lives, an introduction to aviation that many would never otherwise have the opportunity to explore. Watching a young person take the controls for the first time, and seeing that spark ignite, is one of the most rewarding parts of flying.”
Labs said his interest in aviation began at the age of 1 in his grandfather’s Cessna 150. To date he has flown 428 Young Eagles and serves as president and YE coordinator of EAA Chapter 1710.
When you participate in Young Eagles, you often see the same families again and again. I have been a Young Eagle pilot flying an aircraft, and for a few years, I was in charge of putting kids in the school’s Redbird FMX simulator.
I had them fly a lap in the pattern—the controls were on their side of the cockpit, and if they were too small to reach the rudder pedals, they sat on a parent’s lap. A few parents remarked they were not pilots, but I assured them if they could follow directions like “press on the right pedal,” we wouldn’t have an issue as I took charge of the throttle and trim.
Some of the children were in the Redbird because they were too young or timid to fly in an airplane. The second year I did this, the mother of a little girl approached me to say her daughter, who had been one of the apprehensive Redbird kids the year before, was going in an airplane this year because the sim session had been so much fun.
That’s a frequent occurrence, according to Leiting.
“My most memorable flight was with an 11-year-old girl who was extremely hesitant to go flying,” he said. “She watched two of her friends fly first, which eased her apprehension, but it took almost 45 minutes of slowly getting into the airplane, taxiing around the ramp, and discussions with her parents for her to decide she was ready to take flight. In no way did her parents or I pressure her. We just continued to reassure her and allow her to determine the next steps needed to make her feel comfortable in the airplane.
“Once she made the decision to take flight, she was ecstatic. Her first words were, ‘Oh, my God, I love this!’”
You can see this flight featured in the second half of this video below.
To participate, visit EAAChapters.org and find a Young Eagles chapter near you.