Youth Aviation Adventure Hangarfest 2013
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I enjoyed the opportunity on Saturday evening to attend Youth Aviation Adventure’s annual Hangarfest fundraiser at my home airport of KCMH. This is the national headquarters for YAA and Spirit Avionics graciously opened up their facility to host the event. Rick Ochs and the guys at Spirit are very involved with YAA and it shows, they pulled out all the stops to make it a nice evening to anyone who wanted to attend.
I should interject with a few words about YAA. They are not-for-profit volunteer run organization that is dedicated to youth outreach. They were founded 10 years ago in Columbus, OH., but have since sprouted to over over two dozen chapters throughout the U.S. and they continue to grow. Unlike Young Eagles(YE) they are targeting kids between the ages of 12-18 and there’s no airplane ride involved unless it happens informally or in concert with an YE rally. They are all about educating our youth about aviation.
The Hangarfest enjoyed gorgeous weather and there were six airplanes on static display, including yours truly which is how I came to be there. There was a nice variety with the ERJ, T-34C, Stearman, C-182, and a P-51D (the crowd favorite, of course) all parked just outside the hangar and lighted so the attendees could stroll out among them – nice touch!VISIT OUR SPONSOR for Training DVD's, affordable headsets, cable adapters, headset parts, LED strobes and lights, and more! They cover ALL EXPENSES for iFLYblog.com to keep it coming FREE to you FOREVER!
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It was great to finally meet you in person at the rally! Hopefully I can get a bit more involved in YAA in the months and years ahead.
Steve,
Likewise! Always cool to meet a fellow pilots and blogger. I’m scheming to make it down to Waynesville this weekend, we’ll see.
Regards,
Brent
Good deal – here’s that blog post of mine with a bit more info:
http://amileofrunway.blogspot.com/2013/08/2013-red-stewart-airshow-eaa-fly-in.html
Thanks Steve! Good stuff!
Aviation is like opera. You gotta expose kids to it when they’re young or it will feel like foreign territory when they’re older. Imagine if their only exposure to it was a stuffy, overcrowded airline terminal filled with surly passengers.
I used to lead airport tours of Corona Airport out here in SoCal. The kids always loved it. I’d show them all the jobs in aviation. Pilot, mechanic, airport manager, FA, controller, etc. I’d have a shop do a riveting demo, show a plane in the middle of an inspection, and walk them through a bunch of different aircraft. The coup de grace was always an RV. They couldn’t believe an ordinary person had built it.
These events open their eyes to aviation in a way no video or classroom presentation ever could. I think it pays dividends years into the future. Just look at how the cockpit tour of that 727 has stuck with me all these years! All from a 5 minute kindness extended by the pilot who probably forgot about it the same day. But here I am 35 years later, still enjoying the memory of that moment.
Ron,
You said it Man! Our future depends on it. It’s certainly a numbers game, expose a thousand and maybe get 10 pilots out of the mix. Still worth it!
Brent
This looks really awesome. I never got into young eagles, seems like EAA has wrapped themselves in a blanket of legalize (signing of waivers etc.). I think it detracts from the whole point. I will follow up with you and Rick, I would love to pitch in.
Awesome Mike! I think you’ll love YAA