A Youthful Journey
from a rather high rate of accidents since
their introduction. Even with my 21,000 fly-
ing hours, a checkout with an experienced
LSA instructor was a welcome and neces-
sary introduction to these small aircraft. I
have no desire to add a footnote to the FAA’s
LSA accident statistics.
Bill Jagust, an airline pilot and EAA chapter member,
conducts a ground school during the Young Eagles rally in
St. Charles. Many of the kids present were going for their
Aviation Merit Badge.
plane and pilot were expected at a Young
Eagles rally come dawn.
Were I in Rinker’s Cub I’d be on the
ground right now looking into a rental car,
but today, even with the torment Mother
Nature had thrown in our path, the successful completion of the mission was assured.
Fortunately, the Skycatcher has the capabilities of a much more powerful airplane.
Under the cowling is the same O-200 powerplant as the Cessna 150, but the Skycatcher
is 300 pounds lighter, yielding impressive
performance. More to the point, at the
moment, even in that blow, the Skycatcher’s
normal cruise speed of 115-120 knots true
airspeed had only been reduced to a still
acceptable 80-knot groundspeed. A Cub
would be going backward. While the earth
ST. CHARLES
St. Charles is an idyllic little
airport right on the shore of
the Missouri River north of St.
Louis. Here EAA Chapter 32
maintains a strong membership under the watchful eye of
the Doherty clan, Dave, Bill,
and Don who serve as president, vice-president, and
treasurer, respectively. In the
warm months they hold three
events a month, a chapter
meeting, a Young Eagles rally,
and a movie/popcorn night to
keep the families involved. I
like the idea of the movie/
popcorn night.
Chapter 32 draws its Young Eagles heavily from the Boy and Girl Scouting
organizations in the St. Louis area. Bill
Jagust, its Young Eagles coordinator, puts on
a program to complete the Boy Scout
Aviation Merit Badge and Girl Scout Junior
Aerospace Badge at 9 a.m., rain or shine. The
merit badge recruitment approach led to a
healthy stream of Young Eagles being taken
aloft by members of the chapter. The scouting organizations are a fantastic source for
the Young Eagles program.
EAA President Rod Hightower showed
up in his Stearman for the occasion. Hot
dogs and hamburgers kept the crowds happy
while the kids waited for their flights. The
food didn’t hurt the demeanor of the chapter
volunteers any either.
Soon, though, with the day winding
down and the winds picking up, the
Skycatcher and I, now with a video chase
plane in trail, departed for our next rally in
Lebanon, Tennessee. This was a race
between Cessna 162 and 172, and one that I
was determined to win. On this leg I was
able to take advantage of the Skycatcher’s
speed and altitude capabilities by climbing
up to 9,500 feet to catch a tail wind. The
Cessna was still climbing strong even up at
this altitude. I knew the 172 would be mush-
ing along with the nose in a climb attitude
and the throttle firewalled, that is, if it ever
made it to 9,500 feet at all. The Skycatcher,
however, wasn’t even breathing hard in the
rarified air, and the altitude netted a 135-
knot groundspeed.
LEBANON
The next day dawned sunny and pleasant as
the ramp boss, one self-named “Bigfoot,” laid
out the orders of the day. Chapter 863 has a
different plan for Young Eagles recruitment.
