EAA Adventure Day
Overview
WOW! What a day! Bad weather, good weather, excited kids, F-15 gliders, and airspeed indicators—we had it all. Twenty youths, ages nine to 16, from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex gathered at the Arlington Municipal Airport on Saturday, March 28, 1992, for our third Air Adventure Day. This is one of the projects with which our chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is involved each year. The EAA is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of aviation education, home-built aircraft, and sport aviation.
Activities
- Quick orientation and flight-theory demonstration led by Jim Putney, including hands-on experiments.
- F-15 glider construction and decorating, instructed by Rick Raesz (1.5-scale version of Larry Conover's July 1991 offering in Model Aviation).
- Airplane rides for parents and kids while other participants were in the classroom.
- Building of an ultralight-type airspeed indicator (ASI) led by Greg Judy; calibration assistance from John Newman and Frank Folbre.
- Model giveaways and model reassembly/flying supervised by Ken Morris and others.
- Distribution of a bag of goodies to each kid (EAA magazines and information, maps, modeling information, flashlights, a brochure about learning to fly, and Delta Airlines wings).
- Evaluation forms collected to gauge interest and suggestions for future events.
Aircraft and Flights
Pilots who flew parents and children:
- Keener White — Cessna 120
- Woody Frantz — Luscombe
- Jim Putney — Tri-Pacer
- Larry Coker — J-3 Cub
- Dick Alden — Grumman Cheetah
Frank Folbre also trailered his home-built project for display. John Newman worked with two participants to help them qualify for Boy Scout merit badges.
Hands-on Projects and Results
- F-15 gliders: Participants cut, sanded, decorated, and flew their models. A few flights ended with "technical difficulties"; overall performance was good.
- Ultralight-type ASI: Built by the group; in-flight testing was not possible but instruments were partially calibrated on the ground.
- Models and parts: Ken Morris provided a large assortment; numbers were drawn and each child selected an item.
Evaluations and Interest
- Thirteen of the participants indicated they wanted to become pilots.
- Many children requested longer or more flights; flying was the most popular activity and will be prioritized for future events.
Participants
- Curtis Bailey
- Jennifer Biggs
- Joshua Broad
- Andrew Eilan
- Justin Eilan
- Scott Farris
- Chris Frantz
- Ian Gillis
- Dominic Kelly
- Michael Lamb
- Vernon Mitchell
- Walter Mitchell
- Jared Muegge
- Brandon Pointer
- Nathan Quintero
- Shane Randell
- Mose Richards
- Robert West
- Esteban Worrell
- Stephanie Worrell
Acknowledgments
I really appreciate the help from the 22-plus members of EAA Chapter 34 who helped make this day possible.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
