A predicted pilot shortage within the next five years received a glimmer of hope on Saturday as 63 students ages 8 to 17 participated in the Young Eagles program at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
The Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 117, based at the Ernie Hall Aviation Museum in Warren, hosted the event, which was founded in 1992 and gives aspiring pilots their first free ride in an airplane.
“Our sole mission is to introduce and inspire kids in aviation, and it is the only program of its kind in the world. We found that hands-on involvement is the best way to keep them engaged,” Anthony DeGaten, president of EAA Chapter 117, said.
The 63 students at Saturday’s event were from Mahoning, Trumbull and four other counties.
More than 20,000 aviation professionals credit their inspiration to the Young Eagles program, an international organization of aviation enthusiasts with more than 200,000 members in 1,000 chapters worldwide, according to its website.
The terminal at the airport was bustling with young future pilots and their parents, who were anxiously awaiting their chance to take their first free exploratory flight in an airplane. Ten certified private pilots were on hand and began to prep the students before going out onto the tarmac.
Each pilot stressed all of the important safety procedures that must be followed in the world of aviation.
“It is not as simple as learning to drive a car. The learning process includes pre-flight instruction, in-flight procedures, and post-flight question and answer session afterwards,” Bob Griffin, a co-chairman of the Ernie Hall Aviation Museum, said.
All pilots explained the four forces of flight — weight, lift, thrust and drag — and how each plays a key role in keeping an aircraft in the air and moving forward.
However, the flights cannot take place without the cooperation of Mother Nature, and remnants of Hurricane Helene in the southern portion of the United States temporarily grounded Saturday’s program as a persistent layer of clouds hovered over the airport, creating obstacles for takeoffs and landings and impacting safety.
While waiting for the weather to clear, the students had the opportunity to operate a professional flight simulator and learn more about becoming a member of the Hubbard Wing Snappers, a chapter of the Academy of Modeling Aeronautics based in West Middlesex, Pa.
Parents and students also had the option of purchasing breakfast for a nominal fee. The funds raised from the breakfast are used to defray the cost of a student for a week-long aviation Air Venture Camp at the EAA Fly-In that takes place annually in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
After a delay of several hours, the clouds lifted, the students were prepped and the control tower lifted the weather warning. The students walked out to their respective planes with their assigned pilots and hopped aboard. They were shown how to buckle up and strap on the hardness for safety, prepare for liftoff and begin an activity in flight that they would never forget.
All young participants spent between 10 to 20 minutes in the air. The basic steps of the flight pattern were explained and some pilots even acted as tour guides by pointing out different rivers, lakes, area schools and highways.
During the past 30 years, the EAA has data showing that Young Eagles are five times more likely to become pilots or enter a career in aviation. The students’ four-step flight plan is this: Enjoy your first introductory flight; get your Free EAA membership; enroll in EAA AeroEducate, where you learn all about the world of aviation and have fun on your journey with aviation based activities that you can do at home or at the airport; and enroll in the program to earn a free flight lesson.
All pilots who participated in the Young Eagles event on Saturday are local members of EAA Ernie Hall Aviation Museum Chapter 117 and have volunteered their time and personal aircraft to make those flights possible. Each pilot is certified with the Federal Aviation Administration and all flights are conducted according to federal regulations.
Aviation scholarships are available through EAA and also through the Ernie Hall Aviation Museum in a number of career tracks in the aviation industry. In just the past three years, the Ernie Hall Museum, for example, has awarded over $25,000 to men and women students enrolled in aviation careers.