The sky’s the limit for Young Eagles
Posted By Matt James
Posted 8 months ago
Not many parents can tell their kids they’ve seen their town from up in the sky, so when the Haliburton Stanhope airport hosted the Young Eagles event on June 6 and 7 they were going to make darn sure their kids didn’t miss out.
In 1953 the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) was founded. Today more than 170,000 EAA member pilots have given 1.3 million kids their first experience of flying and seeing the place they live from the air.
It’s an exhilarating experience. Sitting inside the tiny aircraft you swear you could punch through the walls that separate you from the sky, especially when it’s slightly windy. At times it feels like you’re riding a good rollercoaster.
Just ask eight-year-old Kade Bain of Eagle Lake. While fortunate to be sitting beside a lovely young lady from Toronto, she unfortunately wasn’t feeling very well and required the use of the little bag tucked into the back of the front seat in front of her.
Barry Hart is a Haliburton pilot who helped bring the Young Eagles program to Stanhope Airport. He was also our pilot for the day and reassured the young lady that sickness is often part and parcel of a first flight. And second. And third. At least for Hart it was.
But Kade barely seemed to notice; he was too busy taking in the majestic view before him, the different shapes of the big blue lakes and the green sea of trees that stretched far beyond his sight.
Before the kids could go up in the airplane they were required to walk around an aircraft and learn about how a general airplane operates and functions.
On Saturday eight volunteer pilots loaded and unloaded their planes. Flight after flight the pilots got runway clearance, permission for take off, and enough speed down the runway before floating weightlessly in the air, climbing as high as 3,500 feet off the ground.
What a way to spend a weekend.
Photos by Matt James
