News : Braille School Students Become Young Eagles

Sawyer Deevers from Blakesburg, Iowa

Aubree Dunn from Iowa City listens to preflight instructions from pilot Steve Chia.

Cobe Berglund from Storm Lake is ready for takeoff.

IBSSS summer program students go flying: Nautica Whitehead from Des Moines gets a tour of the plane

Pilots and students make their way to the airplane.

These 4 planes are all home built by their pilots.

Students attending the Iowa Braille School’s two week summer program got a special treat on Tuesday. A break in the weather allowed the 17 students to become “Young Eagles”. Pilots from the Cedar Rapids chapter of the EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, brought five aircraft to Veteran’s Memorial Airport in Vinton.

Since 1992, EAA members have provided more than 1.5 million Young Eagles with an introductory flight experience in a general aviation aircraft. Pilot Keith Williams said, “Giving rides to the Braille School kids is a special treat for the guys. We’ve never done that before. We realize that this is a real special occasion.”

It was certainly a special occasion for little Aubree Dunn from Iowa City. Aubree’s a sharp one for her age. Here’s a sample of the exchange between Aubree and her pilot, Steve Chia prior to the flight. Steve: “That’s the control stick right there, once we fly, I’ll let you hold it. I’ll say, ok, Aubree, you can hold it now.” Aubree: “What would happen if I grabbed that while we were landing?” Steve: “Well, then we’d go out of control, so we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we? We want you to come back safe to your friends, right?” “Right.” After the flight, Aubree said the best part about the flight was holding the joystick. “I helped him”, she said with a big smile.

“I think it’s an amazing experience for them”, said John Justis, Braille School summer program lead. “It’s a little different than flying through an airport. They’re one on one with the pilot. They get to explore these planes, it’s just an experience that really kicks off our summer school program, and it gives them some really fond memories.” Each student’s name will be logged into the world’s largest logbook at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and they will receive a certificate, in Braille, naming them “Young Eagles”.

Perhaps student Drew Rigby from Monticello summed it up best. “I didn’t like it…I LOVED IT!!”

*note: complete caption for photo #6 These 4 planes are all home built by their pilots. The closest is a Long Easy, very similar to the plane that made the Voyager flight around the world. Built for distance and speed, it is capable of flying from Cedar Rapids to Dallas and back without refueling.