Young Eagles Day Coming to Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport Oct. 1

QUEENSBURY — Kids with an interest in aviation will get a chance to learn about and fly in planes up close on Oct. 1, with Young Eagles Day coming to the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury. 

Young Eagles Day is sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association, which has flown over two million ‘young eagles’ in total, according to the EAA website. The Queensbury event is organized by EAA Chapter 353.

“We give the kids, for 15 minutes or so, they’ll walk around what you’d see on an introductory flight,” said Harrison Freer, the EAA Chapter 353 Young Eagles Coordinator. “Then we match them up with a pilot, either in a two-seat or four-seat airplane, and take them up for a ride.”

Kids aged 8-17 are eligible to participate in the event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. There will be multiple planes on hand, with Freer saying that he expects “probably half a dozen planes available,” as well as a ground crew.

The event was also held at the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in June and October of 2019, with Freer stating that “between 40 and 60 participants” were at each one.

In addition to the flights, participants also receive a certificate and a logbook, which allows access to an online training program.

“As part of the logbook, they’re able to go online and get free access to an online flight training program called Learn to Fly by Sportys,” said Freer. “This online training course prepares people, in this case youth, to learn everything they need to know to get their private pilot written test passed.

“That’s another benefit that, again, at the Experimental Aircraft Association level, it is made available to anybody that participates.”

Freer, who served in the Air Force and said he has been flying for almost 50 years, said there is “a real growing need for professional aviation.”

“It can be both a hobby and a profession, or either or,” said Freer. “But the airline pilot projection is that there’s going to be a shortage of airline pilots for the next 10 to 15 years.”

The Young Eagles program is a way to introduce kids to aviation, and offer further opportunities to aspiring pilots.

“There’s a lot of opportunities, professionally and for fun,” Freer said.

To register, visit eaa.org.