Anyone who has read this blog long enough knows I have a thang for aviation. It’s nice to read a nice story…..especially if it involves airplanes.

Kody and Tyler Plarske knew that whatever their grandmother Barb Sauve had planned for their Saturday morning, it would be an adventure. But even they were surprised when she pulled into the Experimental Aircraft Aviation Building parking lot and told them that they were going to be a part of the Young Eagles flying program.

She must have conspired with the weather gods. Beyond the Ormand Barstow Hangar, at the Midland airport named for his kid brother, Jack, the blue Midwestern sky that has lured many of America’s elite pilot and astronaut corps beckoned again Saturday morning, ready to welcome a future Wright, Lindbergh, Earhart, Glenn or Armstrong.

Shortly after 9 a.m., they began to arrive. Accompanied, like the Plarskes, by parents or grandparents (most of whom would only get to stand and watch the fun) the youngsters ages 8-18 would take off as civilians and return, 15 minutes later, as Young Eagles.

The Young Eagles program, held monthly at Midland’s Jack Barstow Airport, is part of the national effort run by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), which is headquartered in Oshkosh, WI.

“Originally, EAA was designed to support home builders, people who build and fly their own airplanes. Today it surrounds many different avenues of aviation, including general aviation and antique aircraft,” said David Schmelzer, Young Eagles progam coordinator at Barstow.

“To interest young people in aviation, the EAA came up with the Young Eagles program. The program is designed to give a young person between the ages of 8 and 18 an airplane ride in a small general aviation airplane,” Schmelzer said. “A lot of times that sparks an interest. They might go on and work for the airlines. Some of them have joined the flying branches of the military.”

More at OurMidland.com

You can read more about the Young Eagles program here.