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First Young Eagles Rally any advice?

My EAA chapter is having their first Young Eagles Rally this weekend. Now that I'm finally flying and out of Phase I, I have volunteered to fly. I'm familiar with the program but I've never been an active pilot before. I read everything on the YE website but it's pretty vague. I was curious what the best way to conduct the flight was? Were expecting a huge turn out as this is the first on of the year after winter. I imagine were not going to have a ton of time between kids for talking. I want to make the flight experience as memorable as possible....in a good way ;) But keep the line moving also. I'm sure we have some experienced Young Eagles pilots here.. care to talk about how you conduct your flights?
Thanks!
 
First and foremost, think safety.

A good briefing for each kid is a must.

I ran the YE program for 4+ years at our chapter, I can give you info on how we did it. Each chapter is different, you have a lot of latitude in the way things are run,

Call me 530-417-1124 if you want to discuss this more.

Here is a link to one of our events. http://www.hangtowneaa512.org/youngeagles/yejun08web.html click "loop all" to start.
 
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Our chapter has done as many as 430 YE's in one day. We had tables set up along the waiting line with pilots demonstrating how airplanes fly with model planes, answering questions, and telling them what to expect of the flight. It gave them something to do while waiting and took less time briefing for the actual flight.
 
I've never participated as a pilot yet, just ground crew, but talking to the veteran pilots that have. Be prepared for kids forcibly grabbing controls in terror. I think its rare and they are easy to overpower, but it would benefit you to keep it in the back of your mind during your flights. Have fun, its a great program!
 
Young Eagles

EAA Chapter 91 hosts smaller rallies monthly here at Lees Summit, MO (KC area) from Apr-Oct. Typical turnout is 50-80 kids flown between 0830-1200am.

In Aug the KC Downtown Airport hosts a large rally with approx 350 kids flown between 0830am and 3:30pm as part of a Youth Aviation day.

Time available with the Young Eagles is driven by crowd size and available planes as well as the mix of aircraft. The smaller rallies offer a more personal experience in my opinion, with individual flights being even better.

Time permitting, the best experience includes letting the Young Eagles participate in a walk-around of the aircraft and discussion of control surfaces, etc.

Once in the air, let them fly to the extend of your/their comfort level.

Make sure the ground crew understands your plane's limitations in terms of passenger size/weight, etc.! We've had some huge (tall, overweight, etc.) kids show up at our rallies. It's much better all around if they are placed with a C182, etc. than if they show up at your RV and you have to say no...

Note that policies may dictate which kids are able to ride in your RV. As an example, the Boy Scouts' policy states "Flying in hang gliders, ultralights, experimental class aircraft, and hot-air balloons (whether or not they are tethered); parachuting, and flying in aircraft as part of a search and rescue mission are unauthorized activities."

Be prepared with barf bags (every seat in every plane), water, spare headsets, etc.

The ground team should also try to arrange other activities to keep the Young Eagles occupied while waiting their turn; suggestions include:flight simulators, static displays, sheet metal workshop, model airplane workshop, aviation movies, etc.

We also have a team handling registration/double checking permission paperwork, cranking out flight certificates, etc. so that every Young Eagle departs with flight certificate and logbook in hand. Last year Sporty's included a gift certificate valid for free online ground school training that was very popular.

Good luck,
Mike
 
Thanks guys just to clarify I won't have anything to do with the admin portion. Our chapter has been doing this for years and have a great system down. I'm just going to be a pilot. I'm planning on talking to some of the members of the chapter also but I just wanted to gain as much insight as possible.
 
As someone else said, a good briefing is a must. But also, as you taxi out, run up, take off, etc., tell them what is going on and what to expect. Nervous passengers get more nervous when you throttle back on downwind if they don't know it's coming.

We give the kids about half an hour each and they all get the chance to fly the plane if the pilot determines they are old enough and capable. Our policy is that we only take one kid at a time unless the kids want a friend, brother, sister, etc. to also come (of course, that means they go in a Cessna or Piper). That way they all get a chance to fly the plane.
 
Have a pilot pre-talk so everyone understands where and what kind of pattern of flight to follow...There are usually several aircraft involved....so communication is important. Don't need to do anything fancy....fly smooth, and avoid a "carnival ride approach". Inform and educate, but be sure you don't distract yourself with dialogue from safe flight. Take care of business is primary...Make it fun....and SAFE.
 
Don't forget to throw a plastic shopping bag in the plane as a sick bag.

The airline-style sick bags do not work well. I had a passenger get sick and overflow one of those bags. Well, the bag overflowed and then the bottom fell out. Yes, nasty stuff.

However I had a BIG man throw up (a lot) in a plastic shopping bag and it worked perfectly. I keep shopping bags (two doubled up) as sick bags now.

So all-in-all, I've had three people throw up...two of them Young Eagles.
 
One thing that has not been mentioned is to remember to put your flaps down prior to the YE's getting in and out of your RV. Prevents them from stepping in the wrong place. Ground crew should brief them where they can and can't step.

As was mentioned, depending on the YE's age and ability, letting them make a couple gentle turns with you hovering your hand over the stick makes a big impact. Really turns these kids on. Fun to watch the look in their face when you tell them that THEY are flying the airplane. Just don't say "your airplane" and put your hands in your lap. Keep your hand just off the stick so they can't over control.

You will wonder who is having the most fun....you or the Young Eagles.


Regards,
 
Be ready to say no

Well this fits in a little bit with Doug R's story about being stupid. I was stupid on a couple of occasions on YE flights. Both times I should have said, "I am sorry but this person needs to fly in a different airplane." Both times the coordinators wanted to give the person a ride in the "cool" airplane.

One time the rider was obese and I did not have enough stick movement to be safe. As it happened the flight was only about 2 minutes as the passenger was uncomfortable flying and I went straight back (and did an uncharacteristic wheel landing because for reasons you can figure out). This flight would have been fine in a C182.

The second time the rider had cerebral palsy and weighed about 250 pounds. The mother was there and very supportive and kept saying he has it just a little bit. Well he could walk but he couldn't get into and out of the airplane without a lot of help, and in so doing he dragged against the flap with considerable weight. Enough that it popped the flap leading edge out from under the wing skin which caused wing skin damage that will be there until and unless I decide to reskin a major portion of the wing. Once again, he would have been just fine in a C182.

So the RVs do have some special requirements and if you run into this kind of situation be assertive. I have trouble saying no in these situations so will just have to say no to YEs from now on. Too bad, I think it is a lot of fun and I think it is important.
 
One more thing

Bring a couple of different sized cushions for kids to set on. They will very in how high they set and it is best that they can see forward.

Kent
 
Screening is everything. Personally, I don't want anyone under about 12 years old, over 175 pounds, and no one who really looks nervous in my RV-9A. BTW, the 9 is a bit different with the Fowler flaps. If they are down, it is quite easy to damage the back edge of the wing--worse than just a flap. I keep 'em up for boarding.

Watch your passenger and gauge their responses. Some may be comfortable with steep turns, some won't be. Always tell what you are going to do. I find some more comfortable if you "drag it in" on landing as they don't like it too quiet. I have flown people (some not YE's) from five continents, all in my 9A in the last three years. The best questions I ever got were from a guy from a very remote village in Ghana. You just never know...

Bob Kelly
 
My recommendations;

1) Fly gently. Explain what you're doing. This ain't the time for a carnival ride.

2) Carry a barf bag (I've never needed one for a passenger, but there is always the chance.)

3) Put a towel over the passenger seat so kids won't feel funny about stepping right onto the upholstry.

4) The RV's seatbelts don't have inertia reels, so I ask the screeners to pick a consistant size for the kids they send me so I don't have to spend a long time fumbling and making major seatbelt and cushion adjustments for every flight.

5) If you have a "loader" shuffling kids in and out of the airplane, make sure the loader knows and explains where to step, what to touch, what not to touch, and what not to step on. Your loader needs to value your airplane as much as you do.

Have fun!
 
YE Pattern

If you are flying with an organized group I would recommend getting to the rally early and taking another experienced YE pilot up as a passenger to show you the route.

I'm the YE AirBoss for our chapter and we have a pretty simple triangular route with turn points that are a Six Flags amusement park, a nuclear power plant, and a city-sized harbor on Lake Michigan, and we still have people miss turns or turn on the wrong side of the landmark, cutting off other pilots.

After 300 Young Eagles (in small Cessna's) I've seen alot, but have never had a kid get sick and only had to turn back once. If you're not nervous the kids won't be. Talk them through your runup and takeoff roll with a count-up to rotation speed. Ask them where they live or go to school and help them try to find landmarks they might know.

Watch the winds and turbulance this time of year. We have had to cancel a few rallys on VFR days because the winds were exceeding most demonstrated crosswind speeds, and the bumps were uncomfortable for the pilots, let alone passengers.
 
Bring a small stepstool for the kids to use instead of the built-in step, and stay nearby to offer a hand during ingress/egress. After flying 40+ kids I have cracks in my passenger step and dings in the turtledeck skin from various mis-steps.

I agree with the earlier posters about being ready to say no to some passengers.
 
A paper shopping...

My recommendations;

1) Fly gently. Explain what you're doing. This ain't the time for a carnival ride.

2) Carry a barf bag (I've never needed one for a passenger, but there is always the chance.)

.......

...bag is good as a barf bag. You don't want a sickly feeling passenger to have to aim accurately or fiddle about opening a bag.

I also have had no need for one in a power plane, but have had several passengers in sailplanes require the use of one...:(
 
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