Eagle Flight gives cadets chance to soar
Aviator giving free airplane rides across US
Last updated Sunday, June 26, 2005 10:00 PM CDT in Front
By Joseph Askins
The Morning News
ROGERS -- Like many children, Jared Aicher watched planes streak across the sky and wished to soar beside them. His dream went unfulfilled for years, but now the 33-year-old is determined to introduce the gift of flight to hundreds of youths around the world.
Aicher and three teammates with the Eagle Flight Project landed at the Rogers Municipal Airport on Sunday morning for one of more than 60 stops on a monthlong tour of the United States.
Aicher founded the project last year as a way of providing free airplane rides and aviation education to children worldwide.
The project is a part of the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles Program, currently led by actor Harrison Ford, an airplane and helicopter enthusiast. The Eagle Flight team hopes to register more than 400 children with the Young Eagle Program and inspire a new generation to study aviation.
"It seems like in this day and age science is being left behind. All the kids out there think there's nothing left to be discovered, but we're just on the edge of exploration," Aicher said.
The two local teens awaiting Aicher's arrival Sunday were already well-versed in the science of flight. Chris Wallis, 16, and David Ortiz, 15, are cadets with the 115th Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, based at the Rogers airport.
Through the Civil Air Patrol program, cadets learn emergency rescue skills, aerospace science and the basics of aviation safety, said David Myers, the squadron's Deputy Commander for Cadets.
Wallis and Ortiz accompanied Aicher in two flights in a four-passenger Cessna 172M provided by West Mesa Aviation of Albuquerque, N.M. Aicher gave both cadets the chance to operate the plane briefly after takeoff, but both declined.
"It was pretty hazy up there, so I figured I'd leave the flying to the professional," Wallis said.
Aicher was impressed with Wallis and Ortiz's knowledge and interest and said he was glad they both wanted to pursue flying into adulthood. Wallis is studying to earn his pilot's license, and Ortiz hopes to join the Air Force after graduating from high school.
"These guys already know a whole lot. That's really cool," he said.
Next year, Aicher plans to fly solo across the world, taking the Eagle Flight program to more than 50 countries.
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