Young would-be pilots get a chance to soar
PENN TWP — Ally Moraca, 16, of Harrison City, might want to become a pilot. That’s why the high school junior made her third flight Saturday during the Young Eagles Day Rally at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport.
That was the point of the event put on by the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 857. The rally gave youths ages 8 to 17 a free 20-minute ride in one of six small aircraft in hopes of igniting an interest in aviation.
Ally said she had been to two other rallies. “The Young Eagles have a free online ground school. I’ve been working on that, too,” she said. “Last year, I went up in a gyrocopter. That was really fun.”
Phil Kriley, the president of Chapter 857, said his group puts on the event three times of year to give young people a taste of, and maybe a taste for, flying.
“We have six pilots here today,” he said, flying everything from a 1940s-era restored Piper Cub to a Cessna to a gyroplane, which uses a rotor instead of wings to provide lift.
“It’s not dangerous at all,” said Kriley of the gyroplane. “It’s probably the safest one here. If the motor fails, you can float it down. It’s a very nice aircraft.”
Kriley said the chapter had 37 young fliers preregistered for the event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and another eight walk-ons. The youngsters got a 20-minute flight from the airport over Lake Arthur and back.
The pilots give their passengers a chance to handle the controls during their time aloft.
The flights are free, and the chapter raises money to send would-be fliers to an aviation summer camp at the association’s headquarters in Oshkosh, Wisc., by selling breakfasts and lunches during the rally.
Leah Martin, 16, the daughter of Suzanne and Richard Martin of Gibsonia, will be attending the summer camp in July.
“It’s 10 days long. It’s an advanced air flight course,” she said. “I want to be a pilot. I started out wanting to be a commercial pilot, but I’ve shifted to flying smaller aircraft.”
“The Young Eagles flight I took last year was the first step,” Leah said.
The association is made up of people with different interests, said Kriley. Some members build and fly experimental aircraft. Kriley and his son are building one at home right now. Other members restore vintage aircraft, such as the 1940s Piper Cub being used Saturday. Others fly military aircraft, mostly World War II and Korean War models, while others fly contemporary airplanes, such as Pipers and Cessnas.
Kriley estimated about half of Chapter 857’s 36 members are experimental aircraft fliers.
The group meets on the third Tuesday of every month at the airport.
Chapter 857 charter member Dan Hood of Shaler was piloting young passengers Saturday in his Piper Cub.
“I’ve done two flights today with five kids,” said Hood. “They were ecstatic about it. They were really jazzed. Some of them intend to take flight training.”
They might get a helping hand from Chapter 857, said Kriley because the national EAA had granted the local chapter $10,000 to be awarded to a student to pay for the expenses incurred while pursuing a pilot’s license.
Chapter member Mark Beighey of Cranberry Township was taking guests up in his two-seater gyroplane. The aircraft uses an unpowered rotor in to develop lift instead of a set of wings. Forward thrust is provided by an engine-driven propeller at the rear of the craft.
“It’s a lot of fun for a retirement hobby,” said Beighey. “It’s not going anywhere fast, and its not that complicated.”
