It was a busy day at the Vernon Regional Airport as young people got a taste of aviation courtesy of the Vernon Flying Club Saturday, June 28.
The club's annual Discover Aviation Day saw more than 120 youth ages eight to 20 put on a headset and buckle up for a 20-minute flight.
The intent is to give youth their first experience flying in a small airplane. Rob McDicken, Flying Club volunteer and event organizer for the last seven years, said the best moments are when a kid has never been on a commercial airplane and is experiencing flying through the sky for the very first time.
"It's absolutely amazing," McDicken said of such moments. "It's the reason why I keep coming back every year. It's giving a young person the experience to fly, especially in a small plane, and the energy and excitement that comes out of that, it's extremely infectious."
The young participants learn plenty about aviation in the free program. They get put through a safety briefing and "ground school," where they learn about the bits and pieces of the airplane and how they work. Pilots give them demonstrations of how airplanes fly while they're in the air. Afterwards, the youth are offered a free private pilot lesson they can complete online.
Some participants go on to have successful careers in aviation. McDicken mentioned one former club member who is a particularly good example.
"The one that does come to mind is a young lady who is now one of the youngest pilots at Air Canada and is now flying a Dash 8, and she came through the Discover Aviation program, did her private commercial licence, she flew with us for two years, and she's now working for Jazz as a pilot," he said.
It's a popular event, and this year Discover Aviation had as many as 80 young people waiting in the wings to go up in the air, on top of the 120 who registered.
The program will be back again next year. For more information, email McDicken at disc.av.vernon@gmail.com.
