A good day with a second grader

Saturday, April 27 was a good day. I participate in the EAA Young Eagles program, where pilots share their passion of aviation and offer a short airplane ride to young people so they might experience the joy of flight. I have flown many kids and my experience is that some are very excited, some are indifferent, some are a little apprehensive, and some are scared to death. This story is about a young man that was in the last category.

On April 27, we had about 50 excited kids and 10 aircraft. The pilots were asked to keep the flights short so all kids could be accommodated in a timely manner.

When I first was introduced to one second grader, it was obvious he was apprehensive. On the ride out to the airplane, he expressed a concern about the speed of the airplane. He did not want to go fast.

At the airplane, we did the walk around and when the time came for this student to climb aboard, it was clear he did not want to go. Now, if a kid does not want to go, I am not going to force him. But I had a sense there was more going on here. I suspected he was intimidated by a lot of things in life and if we went back to the preflight staging area without flying he would have to deal with being humiliated in front of his peers. This is the last thing I wanted (been there, done that).

Somehow, I was able to convince him to get in the plane. We sat in the airplane for awhile and he continued to express his concern of the speed. After that, I suggested that we start the engine and taxi real slowly and after that we would taxi back if he wanted. By the time we got to the runway, he was a little more comfortable but not much.

We taxied onto the runway and I waited a minute so he could decide if he wanted to taxi back or fly. He reluctantly said we could takeoff, “if” we could just circle back and land. Okay! Throttle in, brakes off, airspeed 40, 50, 60, rotate. Off we go, hanging on for dear life. Airspeed 80, 90 and that’s when it happened – the biggest smile I have ever seen! We made it! We were flying!

We climbed to 3,000 ft. and flew over his hometown and landmarks that he knew. He seemed to really enjoy the flight. Then it was time to go back. After landing and the ride back to the staging area it was good to see him hold his head high. He had overcome his fear.

I am sure that young man will forget about me, but I hope he never forgets that with a little patience, he can overcome anything.

It was a good day!