Yuma CAP Squadron 508 Hosts EAA Young Eagles Introductory
Flight Event at MCAS Yuma
The Yuma Chapter 590 of the EAA hosted Young Eagles
Introductory flights at the Yuma International Airport on Saturday, March 31,
2018. Yuma CAP Composite Squadron 508 provided the venue for the event at its
hangar as a function of its community outreach initiative. CAP cadet and senior
members arrived at the hangar before 0630 to begin setting up for the event.
This included several pop-up sun shades in the parking lot and rows of folding
chairs in the cleared hangar area.
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| Assembling the Pop Up Sun Shades |
Cadet Franklin used a leaf blower to clear
out all the accumulated sand that was threatening to resurface the hangar. EAA
members lead by Young Eagle Coordinator Robert Helfrich handled logistics and
paperwork for the day’s activity.
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| Bob Helfrich. It's a tough job but someone has to do it, |
The line-up of attendees and their parents started before 0700
and grew unbelievably by 0800.
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| Early line |
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| Waiting to get up in the air |
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| Blessing the Event |
Parents registered their children and gave
permission for the introductory flights. CAP cadet Obregon provided a preflight
briefing concerning the major components of an aircraft using a briefing
brochure and the Cherokee 180 in which he has part ownership as the Young
Eagles waited to be marshalled to one of the six participating EAA airplanes.
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| Every Young Eagle gets a pre-flight briefing |
Each participant was given a logbook to document the flight. Most of the pilots
flew north of the airport for the approximately 20 minute flights. Air traffic
control had a busy day with all of our flights as well as military training
activity. Parents and grandparents recorded the events of the day with their
ever-present cellular phone cameras.
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| Excitement for the whole family |
A local TV station, Channel 11, arrived
later in the day and hopefully will find time to air a segment about the EAA
Young Eagles program in their evening broadcast.
Turn-out for the day was well ahead of that for last year’s
event. Fifty-three Young Eagles took to the air in light general aviation
aircraft.
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| Chuting up for the biplane |
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| EAA flight line |
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| Loading up, paperwork in order, brief good by |
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| Aviation is exciting |
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| Let's go flying |
CAP pilots also flew six Squadron 508 cadets on orientation flights
in the locally-based CAP Cessna Skylane. Hopefully the experience will lead these
youths to explore aviation and STEM careers as they get older. In the meantime,
CAP senior member leadership hope that some of the Young Eagles will take an
interest in joining CAP as cadets once they reach 12 years of age.
