The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) worldwide has a program called Young Eagles, which introduces young people with and interest and aptitude for aviation to their first flight. EAA member pilots voluntarily make their aircraft and themselves available for this, while others see to the organisation of the events and administration behind the scenes. The Young Eagles event is normally held worldwide on the 2nd Saturday in June, but that was a very busy aviation event day here in South Africa, so an alternative date was arranged. Worldwide almost 2.5 million Young Eagles have flown their first flight with the program and they are aiming to fly 3 million by 2030. Many of these Young Eagles have gone on to make careers in aviation.
With a frosty 2 degrees just after 07:00 and some ground-haze and Kitty Hawk airfield, the EAA team were already finalising the setup in a hangar, with seating, snacks, coffee and water. Only passion for sharing this aviation bug gets people setting up for such an event before the sun rises! Most of the participants had already done on-line registrations and some hard-copy forms and indemnity forms had to be completed.
Kitty Hawk awaits it's young guests as the sun rises and an RV joins the circuit.
EAA 322 members welcoming Young Eagles and completing registration formalities.
Many young people and their parents arrived early and were advised to wait in the clubhouse with it's warm fire until 08:30, because it was still very cold in the hangar setup for the initial briefing. Marie Reddy and her team had thoughtfully brought blankets for those that felt the cold more than others!
The briefing formally got underway just after 08:30.
Marie Reddy welcomed everyone and then introduced Karl Jensen, who has a great passion for introducing young people to aviation. Karl has been flying for 66 years now!
Karl gave a brief background to the EAA and the Young Eagles program in particular.
Karl then introduced Ethan Butler, who started as a Young Eagle himself, and he gave an inspiring address to the prospective Young Eagles, offering some insights into flying and the disciplined approach required. Ethan is one of those who went into the aviation industry.
At the end of Ethan's talk, young people were encouraged to ask questions and Ethan was joined to answer them by Kamogelo Thobejane, who is a freshly-minted PPL pilot, who is starting to build hours towards his commercial pilot's license.
Ethan and Kamo answering questions. Ethan confessed that the studying was the more difficult part, because the flying is so much fun.
There were 33 prospective Young Eagles registered with 7 pilots allocated to doing the introductory flights. There were some withdrawals, so only 30 youngsters flew their initial flight on the day. For manageability Marie divided the group into two for their initial hands-on introduction to the aircraft and some detailed safety instructions.
Marie dividing the group into two. You can tell she is a pilot - they talk with their hands!
Our regular vendors of aviation toys and essentials like hats were on hand…
The two groups went for the basic briefing on the fixed-wing and helicopter where the basic controls and control surfaces were explained. The fixed wing briefing was at Karl Jensen's Cessna 170 and the helicopter briefing was at Charles Fuller's Alouette III. The two groups then swapped around, so they had exposure to both aircraft types.
Ronell Myburg did the fixed-wing briefing and Vanessa Richardson the helicopter briefing.
While the initial briefings were in progress some aerobatic practice was done, complete with smoke.
Charles Fuller gave a detailed briefing at the Alouette III on the helicopter operations and correct use of seatbelt and headsets as well as the safety procedures.
The bulk of the initial experience flights were performed with the Alouette III, because they could take four young people at a time, where the fixed wing aircraft could only take 1, 2 or 3 at a time and their turnarounds were much slower. The Alouette III did "hot changeovers" for each group of 4 young people for time and fuel efficiency.
Marie reached out to the local Boschkop Primary School and found some young girls were interested in aviation and joined in the event.
Learners attending the program and some of the Boschkop Primary school staff in front of the Alouette III.
EAA member helpers and/or pilots gave detailed, aircraft-specific safety briefings and assisted in getting young people into aircraft.
Derek Hopkins assists young people to get safely settled in the RV-10, and off they go!
The airfield soon became quite busy - busiest I have seen it - and Nigel Musgrave was keeping tabs on safety.
Aircraft coming and going and Nigel doing some of the marshalling duties.
Helicopter operations, by nature, were different from the fixed wings, with many sorties flown and not requiring the taxiways or runway.
Allouette III flying many sorties and "hot changeover", where young people were escorted to and from the running helicopter by EAA member volunteers.
Fixed-wing sorties were fewer, but nevertheless busy.
Fixed-wing types included vintage Pipers, Cessna 170, Jabiru and different RV's.
Then it was time for group photographs of participants.
Interested young people, now Young Eagles and EAA Member Volunteers and helpers.
Apart from parents, families and friends of the new Young Eagles, there was a good crowd gathered at the popular Kitty Hawk clubhouse and restaurant. Later in the day, there was a baby gender reveal too!
Members, families, friends and visitors enjoy the friendly atmosphere and great food at the Kitty Hawk clubhouse.
Then the Young Eagles and volunteers enjoyed hamburgers and something to drink andcertificates were formally handed out to the young people who have now formally become Young Eagles - a special milestone in their aviation journey. Some Young Eagles were not able to stay until the end.
Paul Lastrucci, EAA Chapter 322 Chairman, presented the certificates and Karl Jensen presented EAA 322 caps to the new Young Eagles.
Well done to EAA Chapter 322 on organizing a safe and memorable Young Eagles 2026 event. Kitty Hawk provided an excellent venue and hospitality for this event. The next Kitty Hawk event on their calendar is a Gyro Day on 2026-08-15 - see you then, if not before just for a great day out!
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