Lane at EAA Air Academy 2013
My name is Lane Mangum and I attended the EAA
Young Eagles basic camp for 14 - 15 year olds in Oshkosh, WI. from July 15th to
July 20th. My young eagles chapter sent me expenses paid and I couldn't be more
thankful for that. It truly meant the world to me that they believed in me
enough to help send me to this camp. My family and I would've never been able to
afford something like this without the chapters help and for that I'm so
grateful. I had such a wonderful time and learned so many great things. The camp
definitely has even increased my motivation and desire to one day become a
pilot. I know with the help and support of the Young Eagles I will just continue
to learn and grow and make my dreams come true.
I learned a lot at the academy. Some of my
most memorable moments include my flight training flight. I got to fly for 30
min and in my flight I got to do steep turns, stalls, positive and negative G
flying, and just a great overview of the basics of flying. I also got to work
with hotwire cutting to build a foam airfoil. I enjoyed this very much and
learned a lot about it. I'm hoping to be able to do this at home one day. I also
got to go through ground school which was great because I learned a lot about
flight planning and what it takes to become a pilot. I also got to go on a
helicopter flight. It was amazing and I only wish it had been longer. Flying in
the helicopter has also increased my interest in possibly training to fly those
one day. I also got to build a instrument and wing rib. This was really cool
because I learned about shaping aluminum and how a wing rib looks and how they
are put together. Last but not least my other favorite thing I did at the
academy was visit the EAA Aviation museum. It was incredible and there were so
many planes to look at and so much history to learn about flight. I did so many
more fun things, but those were my favorite. The people at the academy were just
wonderful and taught me so much. They were kind and the camp people tried to
make everything feel like home and took really great care of all of us. I hope I
can go back again one day. The 16-18 year old camp sounds amazing. There is more
flight training and teachings in it and I know I'd love it so much. I'm so
thankful to my Young Eagles chapter for giving me this opportunity and helping
me reach my goals and dreams to become a pilot. Sincerely, Lane
Mangum
Lots of Air Academy pictures here
www.flickr.com/eaaairacademy
