• What: Open Cockpit Day at Pearson Field, where kids and families can view historic and modern aircraft, ride in small private planes, try a flight simulator, check out vintage British cars and motorcycles and more.
• Where: Pearson Field Education Center, 201A East Reserve St., Vancouver.
• When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 30.
• Cost: Free.
• Information: http://bit.ly/PearsonRendezvous and http://eaa105.org
If you love airplanes and historic transportation, you’ll find a wonderland of things to explore at Saturday’s Open Cockpit Day at Pearson Field — but if your kids want a free airplane ride, be sure you get there early.
The event, which began more than 10 years ago, has grown increasingly popular in recent years. Pilots who donate time to take children on their first flight in a private plane usually are booked solid in the first few hours, said Deborah Bessette, the aviation programs coordinator for the Fort Vancouver National Trust, which organizes Open Cockpit Day.
• What: Open Cockpit Day at Pearson Field, where kids and families can view historic and modern aircraft, ride in small private planes, try a flight simulator, check out vintage British cars and motorcycles and more.
• Where: Pearson Field Education Center, 201A East Reserve St., Vancouver.
• When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 30.
• Cost: Free.
• Information: <a href="http://bit.ly/PearsonRendezvous">http://bit.ly/PearsonRendezvous</a> and <a href="http://eaa105.org">http://eaa105.org</a>
“It used to be when we opened our doors, every child that wanted to fly had a chance, but it’s become so popular that you really need to get there early,” Bessette said.
Private pilots, including a large group from the Experimental Aviation Aircraft Chapter 105 in Hillsboro, Ore., come together every year for the event to encourage interest in flying through the EAA Young Eagles program. In it, the pilots pay for their own fuel, supply airplanes and donate their time so kids can ride for free, said Greg Hughes, an EAA pilot with the group.
“Flying kids in our Young Eagles program really is a mutually beneficial activity,” Hughes said. “It’s an opportunity for youth to experience the magic of flight. And for the pilots, it’s an opportunity to give something to the community and share something we’re passionate about with the next generation of aviators.”
And some of the kids come back every year and move on to bigger aviation projects, he said.
“One of the really cool things that happened at the last Open Cockpit Day, actually, was that a couple of young men who were in the program in prior years flew their first Young Eagles flight with a plane that was built by former Young Eagles,” Hughes said. “A group of teenagers in our Teen Flight Program built an RV-12 airplane from Vans Aircraft, the largest maker of airplane kits, and they actually flew that airplane at their first event last year.”
Hughes said he’s also had continuing relationships with some of the kids who have flown with him in prior years.
“There’s one kid I flew with maybe four years ago, and every year he comes back and says hello,” Hughes said. “It’s really nice to see young people who are finding ways to participate and expand their love of flying like that.”
EAA also has other opportunities for kids and young people interested in pursuing careers in aviation. The group has flight scholarships that pay for an hour’s flight lesson and will let children go through the written part of flight training for free, Hughes said.
“There are opportunities out there for young people who are looking for creative ways to pursue this, if they’re passionate about it,” Hughes said. “Our ground school training, that’s the book learning part of flying and it’s on the Internet. It’s the same ground school that I’d take if I wanted to get a commercial license.”
Typically about 60 flights are available from Pearson Field at the event, with about 350 people attending in recent years, Bessette said.
“We also open Pearson Field Education Center, and all of our activities are free,” Bessette said. “We’ll also have vintage British motorcycles and cars on display this year from Nuffield Imports.”
The trust used to organize two Open Cockpit Days every year, but this year the group is only doing one event, she added.
“Two of them really taxes EAA’s pilots and planes, so we thought, ‘let’s go back to one and see how things evolve,’ ” she said.
Other pilots based at Pearson also participate in the event, often rolling planes out of their hangars so people can look at them or sit in the cockpit on the ground.
“I think if there’s a young person out there who really loves airplanes but hasn’t had the opportunity to explore them, this is a really cool way for them to have an experience with pilots and airplanes that they can’t find anywhere else,” Hughes said. “When we fly, the kids get to sit up front with the pilot and really see what the controls are like and what we do. It’s really great for them.”