A day in the sky for area children

Experimental Aircraft Association to host Young Eagles Flight Rally in Henderson

The local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association will be hosting a Young Eagles Flight Rally at the Henderson Airport Feb. 4.

Members of the association, commonly referred to as the EAA, will fly children from the ages of 8 to 17 between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

EAA chapter President, David Lerner, said this particular flight rally is targeted toward inner city children.

"We give the kids insight on how the plane works and take them up," Lerner said. "I'd guess about 90 percent have never been near an airplane, and they're really interested."

The EAA Young Eagles Program was created in 1992 to nurture the youth's interest in aviation. The goal of the EAA is to promote aviation, aviation safety, education, interest among youth and to foster experimental aircraft building. Since its inception, the EAA volunteer pilots have flown more than 1.2 million young people.

"Free airplane rides are just part of the flight rally," Lerner said. "We hope to build one-on-one relationships between pilots and young people, giving a new generation a chance to learn more about the possibilities that exist in the world of aviation."

After completing the approximately 20-minute flight, the children's names are entered into the EAA logbook, called the World's Largest Logbook, which is housed in Oshkosh, Wis., at the EAA Air Adventure Museum.

In past flight rallies throughout the valley, the local chapter has flown more than 100 children in one day, Lerner said.

"Usually we'll go past the Paiute reservation and make a large circle," he said. "And the best part of it all is to see all the trepidation the kids start out with, and when they come out, they have a huge grin on their faces."

Lerner, a retired banker, has been flying since he was 13 and has been working with aircraft ever since, which is "a really long time," he laughed.

Lerner also is the board president of the local charitable organization Courtney Children's Foundation, which is sponsoring the flight event.

The Courtney Children's Foundation, affiliated with United Way, works to help lower the amount of low-weight births in the Las Vegas Valley, as well as to lower the infant mortality rate. The group was part of the Clark County Health District until 2001.

Suzanne Kuhn, executive director of the nonprofit, noted that their two main programs are BabyFind and Smart$hop. BabyFind provides soon-to-be mothers with proper prenatal care and tips on how to keep themselves and their unborn child healthy. The program helps mothers beginning when they find out they are pregnant until the child turns 1 year old.

Smart$hop is a yearlong program aimed at teaching mothers how to nutritionally feed themselves and their family on a limited income. In order to be eligible for Smart$hop, a mother has to receive $50 worth of food stamps every month.

"We teach them how to do comparative shopping, how to get to a grocery store using bus routes and we provide them with bus tokens if they need to do that," Kuhn said. "It can be overwhelming to plan a heathy menu for a family of seven, for three meals a day, and stay within your limits."

More information on the flight rally and the local EAA chapter -- Chapter 1300 -- can be found by visiting www.eaachapter1300.org. No preregistration is required to participate in the flight rally and all children between the ages of 8 and 17 are welcome.