In order to accommodate the busy schedules of our members, this season we’re adopting a new format of regular meetings, field trips, and volunteer opportunities.  Come join us for as many events as you can! .

This year (2023/2024) is all about education – all things aviation (piloting, technical, mechanical, career paths, etc.).  We are lining up a calendar of meetings (that often includes subject matter speakers), site visits to neighboring projects, field trips to commercial entities (Frontier Airlines, ATC Control Towers, etc.), flying field trips (Pueblo Museum) as well as a variety of volunteering opportunities (Young Eagles, Erie AirFare, etc.).

For a current calendar of 2023/2024 activities, see CALENDAR.

Disclaimer:  Coordinating activities with venues, speakers, dates, etc. will require some adjusting as schedules and circumstances arise.  As such, email communications will always precede that next scheduled activity to confirm logistics.  Please make sure you are on our MemberPlanet communications roster to insure you are always receiving the latest information. 

Past year’s programs

2022-2023 School Year

The plan for ‘22 was to have the kids help with the building of a real full-size airplane.  We had ordered an RV 12 Si from Vans Aircraft and were hopeful of getting the plane in time to start building in the fall of 2022.  However, a backlog in orders at Vans Aircraft made it clear that it was going to be difficult to get the kit parts in a timely fashion.  Instead, we acquired a half built RV14A and had the high school kids help with the assembly of the rest of the plane.  The middle school kids helped with the building of tail feathers for a partially built original design that we have referred to as the Buckshot.  By the end of the school year the RV 14 had just received its engine and the Buckshot had a new set of tailfeathers.  See pictures below.

2021-2022 School year

Our goal in ‘21 was to expose the kids to model building, with an emphasis on how a plane flies, and how critical weight and balance is for a model airplane to actually fly.  We started the year with gliders of very simple design, followed by rubber band powered aircraft and ending with remote control aircraft.  It was a fun year which saw a wide range of flying models.  See the pictures below:

Prior YA Programs Included:

Drone Program – kids were taught how to fly drones along with all the rules and regulations, airspace geography, communications etc. It will be an ongoing program where kids move through various phases of competency as they complete certain elements.

ICAN Program – a more formal version of the program we started a few years prior – a training endeavor for those wanting to learn the Ground School portion of pilot training.

B25 Maintenance & Upgrades – for the hands-on type kids, we always had the ongoing tweaks and upgrades to the B25 that will be headed to a museum this year. See B25 History for a more complete narrative on the evolution of the YA’s most notable project.

Parades & Special Events – were always a regular activity many of which featured the B25 (Veterans events and parades, STEM events, Airventure/KidVenture, etc.).

Mentoring Program – we are continually working with EAA Chapter 43 in an attempt to pair up one-on-one interested kids with seasoned pilots to go flying on a regular basis and to learn what it is all about to maintain an aircraft.