Airborne Adventure

It sounds like something out of “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.” This weekend there’s an event for kids at Whiteman Airpark in Pacoima with the slogan, “Young Eagle Flights . . . Your Free Ticket to Adventure!”

But this is for real. Beginning Saturday, then on one Saturday a month for the rest of the year, boys and girls ages 8-17 will have an opportunity to hitch one free airplane ride from the San Fernando Valley to the vicinity of Magic Mountain and back.

Charlie Ducat is spokesman for the Van Nuys-based Experimental Aircraft Assn., Chapter 40, a private and commercial pilots’ group, which provides these Young Eagles trips.

Besides the flights, he says, “we take kids into the Whiteman airport control tower to watch operations plus on-the-ground demonstrations of how a pilot plans trips with flight maps, and checks out an airplane’s mechanical condition prior to takeoff.”

The purpose, says Ducat, “is to let kids see that aviation can be a lot of work, fun and even a career.”

Kids who participate get a certificate signed by the pilot-host and a free year’s subscription to the Young Eagle’s magazine, Sports Aviation for Kids.

The foundation’s goal is to give rides to 1 million kids by 2003--,having done so for 150,000 “young eagles” nationwide thus far. And with no mishaps, Ducat points out.

Ducat, himself, has taken 150 kids for a spin. The 2003 date, he points out, will mark the centennial anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first manned flight.

On these weekend flights for kids, Ducat, like most of the other pilots who volunteer, uses “production aircraft”--brands such as Cessna, Piper and Bonanza-- rather than experimental craft.

A parent or guardian must accompany the child to Whiteman Airport by 10:30 a.m. and sign a parental permission form. Kids go up for a 20-minute flight in groups of three.

BE THERE

Young Eagle Flights--Free for kids 8-17 on Sat., 10:30 a.m., at Whiteman Airpark, San Fernando Road at Osborne Street, Pacoima. Flights also available March through December. Call (818) 725-4AIR.