Dan Thrift/Nevada Appeal Jake Van Beuge, 9, from Carson City, peeks inside the cockpit of a 1965 Piper Cherokee owned by Jacki Montgomery after a run-down of the craft on Saturday during an open house hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association at the Carson City Airport.
A rainy fog, low-ceiling and flag-ironing winds grounded the planes for Saturday's Young Eagle program, put on by the Carson City chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, but even the bad weather couldn't diminish youthful flights of fancy.
About 30 kids attended the event, intended to expose them to the thrills of aviation in hope that some might be bitten by the flying bug, according to coordinators Mike Agnello and Merry Romine.
Mike Agnello teaches a class at Carson Valley Christian Center on model-airplane building.
"The Young Eagles program helps inspire kids to fly," he said. "It offers scholarships and, if the weather was a little better, free rides."
Jacki Montgomery, 72, remembers her first flight at age 14. She lived near an airport and loved watching the planes fly by.
"So I rode down there on my bike and found this female pilot. I asked her how much for a ride. I told her I had $3 and off we went. It was my very first flight but as soon as we were off the ground I said this is what I'm going to do forever."
"My mother never found out," she adds with a laugh.
Montgomery said flying is a religious-type experience, bringing her closer to God.
While veteran pilots traded war stories across a long table, sipping coffee and staying warm inside the EAE's main building, a group of about 30 kids came in from the tarmac where they'd just been checking out some of the planes.
David Jensen, 15, of Silver Springs, isn't sure he wants to be a pilot, but little brother Jake, 10, talks like an ace. He wants to be a Navy Seal.
"I flew a Piper 181 when I was 9," he says as though it happened ages ago. "Well, I was co-pilot, but I handled the controls. We had three passengers."
Jake said flying is more fun than roller coasters.
Tim Tollefson, 12, of Minden, sits in a yellow bi-plane inside a museum hangar. He beams, the light in his eyes glows as bright as the paint job on the plane.
"It's great. I wasn't squished in at all," he said, climbing down onto the wing.
The planes may not have been flying, but nothing can seem to keep the flying bug off the ground.
n Contact reporter Peter Thompson at pthompson@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.
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