Pay It Forward!

If we’re lucky, there will be a day in our life where we feel great satisfaction, much success, and the feeling that we have touched someone.  That day came for me the first week of August.  For the past several years, it has been my desire to hold an aviation camp.  Things seemed to get in the way for that same number of years.  Finally, this year circumstances worked in favor of pursuing the camp.  Anytime you plan on taking on the total responsibility of thirty-one kids, it becomes an awesome job. 

The date was set and the camp was held.  I recommend the experience to every pilot.  The age group was 9 to 14 years.  This is a good age to find the eagerness of a child, but the thinking of an adult.  The instructors were volunteers and there were scholarship to assist those who needed.  The cadets were given log books, planes, plotters, charts, books, E-6B Computers and more aviation items.  Four day of classes and ‘show & tell’ with a flight in a plane on Saturday, five days of aviation fun.   

We will share our information to those of interest.  I believe that all states or state pilot’s organizations should consider this project.  The rewards may not come to realization for years, but I believe that we may have created a dozen pilots out of this group.  They came with an open mind and left with an aviation filled brain.  Five days of a camp and they would have come back on Monday of the next week. 

There is a complete story in this issue the gives some of the things the kids enjoyed during the camp.  We couldn’t have done it without the tremendous support and assistance of thirty-three pilots in the State.  Some may have only made phone calls, but all played a part in the success of the event.  If you want to read more about this camp… go to www.arkansaspilots.org.  

Mountain Flying Safety...

One of the things we at FLY-LOW try to do is to present safety articles on flying, mixed with our bag of aviation tricks.  While preparing our current issue of aviation accidents for the FYI column, I found at least three accidents that occurred in the Rocky Mountains.  One plane had just left AirVenture at Oshkosh and was going home.  Our publication is read by pilots in all fifty states.  I realize that not all of us will fly over the Rocky Mountains.  There are, however, many of us that do fly over them.  Some may do it once a year and other once a week.   

Many mountain flying stories that we produce, usually by Sparky Imeson, contain safety information for the high country and the low country.  Keeping pilots aware of their flying environment is our main objective.  We have reproduced several of the accident scenarios in FYI:  Accident Reports to make all pilots aware of the hazards of high altitude, density altitude, maximum weight loading and box canyon escapes.  Point being, flying safely is the best way.