In a letter to Octave Chanute in May 1900, flight pioneer Wilbur Wright wrote: “For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man…What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery. It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.”
Two hundred years later, with more than 2 million free flights for children under their wings, the Experimental Aircraft Association is promoting those very ideas first shared by Wilbur Wright before his first flight. Locally, the Purchase Area Aviators—EAA Chapter 807 uses their 50-member strong organization to bolster the future of aviation.
“We do all we can to promote aviation in the community,” says Chapter 807 President and Founding Member Mike Fagan. “We host several events that give opportunities for people to take that first flight.”
The Association is incredibly proud of its Young Eagle Flights Program, which invites young people ages 8-17 to experience flight for the first time with one of their experienced pilots.
“A lot of these guys that start out flying when they are younger, they are the ones that are going on to become airline pilots or are flying Fed Ex and UPS planes,” Mike says. “We do what we can to make opportunities for the youth.”
One of the most significant opportunities toward that goal is the local chapter’s award each year of the Ray Aviation Scholarship, which endows $10,000 toward a teenage recipient’s dream of earning a private pilot’s certificate. The scholarship program is sponsored at the national EAA level but awarded at the local level, an essential distinction in the chapter’s mind.
“It’s a big benefit to someone local not to be thrown into a pool with a thousand other applicants,” Mike says.
This year, the chapter awarded the scholarship to Ethan O’Neil, a Benton student who expressed an interest in getting his pilot’s certificate.
“We chose Ethan based on recommendations from people who knew him. He works hard at his homeschool education and even owns his own landscaping business that is rather successful,” Mike says.
“We felt he would be a good fit because of his strong work ethic.”
Ethan will now have one year to complete his flight training and hopefully join the EAA’s mission to help guide others into flight.
While younger flyers are a big part of that goal, Mike says they are open to all interested in aviation.
“On a casual level, it seems like flying has declined a lot over the years,” he says. “A big part of that is that it is an expensive hobby, but it’s obtainable with help.”
Adult flyers are also welcome at events to take Eagle Flights, and the Flying Start program is catered toward adults who want to learn to fly but don’t know how to go about getting a license. Even “rusty pilots” can get some help from the Purchase Area Aviators to get them back in the air after a long time.
For Mike, who has been a hobby-aviator for 30 years himself, it’s a legacy that he and other group members want to continue in the region.
“Flying has been a big part of my life for three decades, and I have loved every second of it,” he says. “If we can give even just one other person the knowledge they need to get to experience that same level of love, our work will have been worth it.”
Because remember, according to one of the founding fathers of flight, “it is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.”
Be an Eagle!
If you are interested in taking an Eagle Flight or have a child who would like to attend a Purchase Area Aviators-EAA Chapter 807 event to learn more about flying, please look the group up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EAAChapter807 to look for events coming soon near you.
