E-mail: Membership@EAA.org
Phone: 800-564-6322 (800-JOIN EAA)
Online: www.EAA.org
FROM THE DESK OF...
CHARLIE BECKER, DIRECTOR OF MEMBER PROGRAMS
Name: Brian O’Lena, EAA 645286
Position: Youth Programs Manager
WHO’S WHO AT HQ
DO YOU KNOW THE NO. 1 way you can protect your local airport? Fly Young Eagles. Yep—if you think about it, it makes complete sense. Young Eagles rallies get non-aviation parents out to the airport. The local press loves to cover this type of event, so you’ll get great pictures in the paper. It
also counters the idea that pilots are a bunch of “fat cats” by showing the
public that we are just regular community members who love flying. It’s
a great way to show pilots giving back to the community. Those Young
Eagles flights are building a base of friends of the airport: parents and
future voters.
What do you do? I manage the
Sporty’s Next Step program and
other EAA youth initiatives, such as
the First Flight Lesson and Flight
Training Scholarship programs.
Prior to EAA: I was a ground
instructor in the Flight Standards
and Training department for
Midwest Airlines, teaching Boeing
717 systems and developing training
materials. I was also a Young Eagles
coordinator for Chapter 838 in
Racine, Wisconsin, flying more than
100 Young Eagles.
Introduction to flying: A friend of
my parents gave me one of his Flying
magazines (which I still have) when
I was 10 years old. It sparked my
interest, and shortly after my first
ride, I was hooked.
If you could fly any airplane…
I would love to fly a P- 51 Mustang.
It’s the best-looking, most exciting
single-seat aircraft in the world!
Don’t Know Much About... YOUNG EAGLES FIRST
FLIGHT LESSON PROGRAM
RM
Best flying trip: Some friends from
my local chapter and I flew my
Cherokee from Wisconsin to visit
the Air and Space and Udvar-Hazy
museums in Washington, the First
Flight Airport in North Carolina, and
the Air Force museum in Dayton,
Ohio. Six days of good friends, good
weather, and good flying!
To answer the question of “What’s next?” Sporty’s provides every Young Eagle with free online
access to its Complete Flight Training Course. Young Eagles ages 14 to 19 who complete the first half
of the course will earn a free first flight lesson, paid for by EAA, from a flight school of their choice.
The logistics are simple: Once Part 1 is completed, EAA provides the Young Eagle with a voucher for a free flight lesson. He or she
can then contact a flight school to schedule a flight lesson (all flight schools have to do to participate is make sure they are listed at
www.YoungEagles.org/lesson). The Young Eagle then experiences the excitement of that first lesson, which puts him or her well on
the way to becoming a pilot.
For more information, call 920-426-6297, visit the website above, or e-mail bolena@eaa.org.
Recent flying: This summer, I
received my tailwheel endorsement
in a J- 3 Cub in Hartford, Wisconsin.
It’s helped me appreciate a whole
new realm of aviation. That’s the
way flying used to be: basic and fun.
I love flying around the Wisconsin
countryside low, slow, and with the
door open in the Cub.
