A crisp October wind whipped through the air as more than 50
young people gathered at the Hollister Municipal Airport Saturday,
waiting expectantly for the sun’s rays to burn off the early
morning fog and the roar of a plane engine to signal the start of
the 7th Annual Young Eagles program.
Hollister – A crisp October wind whipped through the air as more than 50 young people gathered at the Hollister Municipal Airport Saturday, waiting expectantly for the sun’s rays to burn off the early morning fog and the roar of a plane engine to signal the start of the 7th Annual Young Eagles program.
Held by Hollister’s Experimental Aircraft Association, Young Eagles is aimed at introducing kids to aviation, according to Ed Owens, president of the local EAA chapter. The one-day program, which drew 55 kids ages 8 to 17 and their families, included a brief orientation about airplanes and a short flight with a local pilot. This year’s Young Eagle program garnered the largest turnout in seven years, Owens said.
“It was cool,” 9-year-old Mathew Castro said after his flight. Castro, like many of Saturday’s participants, had a chance to take the controls as he flew over San Benito County in a small propeller-powered plane. He said he made the plane go up and down and he took it in circles. Also, Castro was struck by how different things look when you’re nearly a half-mile up in the sky.
“We saw the cars, they looked like little remote control (cars),” he said. And from the sky, people looked like ants, he added.
Before taking off for their 10 to 15 minute flight, the children took part in a standard pre-flight walk-around inspection. During the tour they looked at the visible parts of the aircraft such as the propeller, which powers the plane, and the rudder, which steers it.
“We look at all the obvious things,” Owens said. “It’s not a car, you can’t just pull over to the side of the road if something goes wrong.”
Once they were back on terra firma, the kids got a certificate for completing the flight and a picture with their pilot and plane. In all, six pilots gave 33 flights during the free event. The Hollister Airman’s Association helped out by registering kids for their flights, and Gavilan College Aviation cut pilots a 25 cent-per-gallon fuel discount for their time.
After the flying was over for the day, the EAA treated the group to a hot dog lunch – serving up 112 hot dogs, 120 soft drinks and 96 bags of chips.
“It was a great turnout, a lot of families. It was a wonderful day at the airport,” Owens said. “That was a hungry bunch.”
Braden Stephens and his friend Matt Miguel, both 14, said they plan on getting pilots licenses. The feeling of flying through the sky unrestrained by gravity ranks high on their list of reasons to obtain the coveted wings.
“It’s a whole new world,” Miguel said.
Both of them have flown small planes before, but that didn’t make their flight Saturday any less exciting.
“It was fantastic. It was fast,” Stephens said.
But the day wasn’t just fun for the kids, according to Owens. The pilots get fulfillment from participating in the Young Eagles program as well.
“The pilots, we get just as excited,” he said.
Local Pilot Deane Judd said he joined the EAA for the sole reason of being a part of Young Eagles, and said he hopes some of Saturday’s participants caught the “flying bug” from the experience.
“It was a way I can help contribute,” Judd said. “It’s always fun to be able to introduce anybody to the experience of being able to fly.”
Luke Roney covers local politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
