Kids take flight with volunteer pilots at Rosecrans
By Chris Fortune
Kids took to the skies over the weekend thanks to the local Experimental Aircraft Association.
The local EAA Chapter 1479 started in 2009 with a focus on creating the Young Eagles program to introduce kids between the ages of 8 and 17 to aviation. Pilots volunteered their time to fly kids around St. Joseph in their small planes at no cost to the kids in the program.
EAA Chapter 1479 President Greg Starkel said the reaction from the kids motivated the pilots.
“The thing that gets to a pilot every time we lift off the ground, especially for those Young Eagles that have never flown before, when that wheel comes off the pavement and the look on their face and the excitement and the smiles, it just really fires us up,” he said.
There is an average of two Young Eagles flights a year. In the last two years, EAA Chapter 1479 typically has around 70 kids signed up.
Pilots took the kids through inspections of the aircraft and then buckled in for the flight. For one pilot, it’s about giving back to the community and inspiring a new generation of pilots.
“It was probably about 45 years ago that I was the kid riding on a plane, and ever since then, I’ve loved flying,” volunteer pilot Marcus Tyrell said. “What a better way to give the little Mark Tyrells who are out there and take them up for their first ride.”
The plane ride was a smooth experience for one girl who didn’t realize the wheels left the ground during takeoff.
“It was fun,” Lillian Kuriakose said. “I didn’t realize we were going off into the sky.”
She and her sister earned Young Eagle certificates to commemorate the experience. Lydia Kuriakose expressed gratitude to her father for bringing her and Lillian to Rosecrans.
“I’m glad he took me out here because I really love airplanes, and I really wanted to go on this for so long,” Lydia Kuriakose said.
The next Young Eagles flight will take place at Rosecrans next spring. Those interested can keep up to date and register for future flights at Youngeaglesday.org.
“We want to make sure the bad weather is gone, so that would probably be the earliest for the next event,” Starkel said. “We want their first flight to be a fun flight.”
