Junction City Aviation Group Shares Love of the Sky With Young People

Nov. 14—A local group not only shares a love for the sky and airplanes; it also shares the hobby with young people.

The Flint Hills Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Junction City allows youth to discover aviation and work on airplanes.

President Jeremy Gorman said there are many different ways that youth get involved, one of which is through the Young Eagles program.

"That's where we bring the kids in here, and we have them work on aircraft in conjunction with us," Gorman said.

Right now, the club has three different aircraft it can work on, with another one hopefully coming in January.

One of the planes the group is working on is a certified plane, so a certified A&P mechanic watches over the work. The plane will be completely put together when they finish up and are ready to fly. Most of the planes the group works on can only work on to a certain point until the group sells it.

When kids first show up for the program, they generally go on a plane ride with an adult group member.

"We'll do a preflight inspection with them where we explain quite a bit about how it works, then we'll take them out, and we'll fly them," Gorman said.

Gorman said they turn the control over to the kids at some point during their flight and start teaching them how to fly before they start the program.

On Saturday, the weather was cold and windy, so only a few high school-aged kids showed up. Gorman said 12 to 25 kids often show up depending on the time of year.

Dominick Perea, 18, of Chapman, said his dad was in the military for 20 years, then retired and worked at the American Legion in Chapman. Perea said a man at the legion gave him a card with info about the program, and he fell in love.

Perea's plan is to join the U.S. Air Force and continue his family's military career.

"I'd be the first officer in my family if I do. That's kind of like my whole big plan," Perea said. "Afterwards, I want to become an aerospace engineer. I want to work for NASA's and Lockheed Martin's teams. But mostly, I just want to fly in the Air Force."

Perea also received a $10,000 scholarship to begin working on his pilot's license.

Jordan Westover has been coming to the program for six years, starting in middle school. Westover is more interested in the mechanical parts of the plane. On one of the planes they are working on, he helped with the tires, brake disks and rivets.

"I've always liked to build stuff and take things apart," Westover said. "Mechanical things is what interests me."

Westover said airplanes are more of a hobby for him, and he likes what he does now.

"I'd like to get my private license, with experimental aircraft, you can work on it like if it was your own car," Westover said.

The next project the program intends to build is Quicksilver Sport 2S, which the group will be able to fly.

Joshua Haselton, 17, said he likes to fly and build planes. He wants to become a commercial airline pilot. He is working on his private pilot license. He has completed 17 of 40 hours and expects to finish in March. Right now, he has been flying in a Cessna 150.

Gorman said the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation and the Don Dodge Foundation are funding sources that allow the program to function.

Johnathan Pope, 18, received a scholarship last year and is working on his pilot's license. Pope said he was interested in aviation back home in Georgia, but there wasn't much available for teenagers. When he moved to Kansas, he wanted to get plugged into aviation, so he joined the program.

Pope is the cadet commander for a program called Civil Air Patrol. He said it's the auxiliary of the Air Force; it's a cadet program that he said is like JROTC.

"We do search and rescue, we do disaster relief, and we get kids interested in aviation and the military," Pope said. "It teaches kids a lot about leadership programs or leadership qualities."

Pope plans to join the Air National Guard, get his four-year degree and then fly cargo jets.

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