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.”
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