Young Eagles Flight Lessons

On Saturday the boys got to go to a small local airport for a flight lesson. They had the best time E.V.E.R. This was hosted by EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association - the experimental part does not make a mom feel at ease!) The group is called Young Eagles and they are encouraging young kids to get involved in aviation.

The flights were for one child at a time, there were probably 8-10 pilots and their little Cessnas there. They would take one kid up for a 30 minute flight and they let the kids ask questions and once up in the air the kids were actually allowed to take the controls and steer (or whatever it is called when you are flying!) After the flight the pilot signed a certificate of completion and also signed the child's Flight Log Book!



Lefty was a tad bit nervous when he found out that Spirit would not be with him. As we walked towards the plane, the pilot actually invited Mr. Man to sit in the back seat for the flight (not all planes had a back seat). So Mr. Man took a camera up and was able to get some aerial shots from up there.  At one point Lefty was climbing, climbing, climbing and the pilot said "So, do you know what it means to stall?" and Lefty said he didn't and the pilot says "Well, you are about to find out unless you bring us down a bit!"

Another story I heard was that they were heading straight for the mountains and the pilot calmly says "Do you see those big things in front of us? Well you might want to do something about that because they are much bigger than we are!"

I heard from Mr. Man that Lefty was not the smoothest pilot and was jerking them around quite a bit. The pilot looked back at Mr. Man and said "Are you ok back there?" and he said yes and the pilot said "good! Because if I was sitting back there I would be hurling!" We had a laugh about that after the flight!

All the pilots were amazing to work with and you could tell they were so excited to share their love of planes with all these eager kids that showed up bright and early on a chilly Saturday morning!




Lefty and Mr. Man getting buckled in the plane before take off



Mr. Man excited as could be to be taking a flight - he was more excited at this point than I think Lefty was!





Lefty and Mr. Man heading to the runway for take off



Lefty getting ready to fly!

Arial view from Lefty's plane



Lefty taking the controls!

Lefty and his pilot, Jerry after the flight



Another arial view

Spirit and his pilot went flying over some major landmarks in the area and really had a great time! Spirit was able to steer and turn the plane from side to side. He is anxious for when he can go again! Spirit didn't have a camera with him, nor did he have a parent with him and that is just the way he wanted it! He had a blast!

Now here are some pictures from Spirit's flight:

In the cockpit


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Mr. Man shaking Spirit's pilot's hand after the flight.



The pilot, Bob, signing Spirit's Flight Log Book

This was certainly a day we will never forget!