Sonoma Skypark inspires young pilots with free Young Eagles flights

Every month, the Sonoma Skypark takes dozens of kids soaring through the air with the hope that they’ll fall in love with flying. This Sunday, anyone aged 8 to 17 can hop in the cockpit for a free ride.

The Young Eagles Program was started by the Wisconsin-based Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) just over 30 years ago, and Sonoma’s local chapter was an early adopter. Since its inception, the program has flown over 2.3 million kids at no cost — over 3,000 of which took off from the Sonoma Skypark on Eighth Street East.

Local pilots volunteer their planes, time and fuel to give tours of the sky to young people in the community, with the hope they will come back for more.

“The Young Eagles program was created to introduce more young people to the joy and wonder of flying, with the hope that some Young Eagles will go on to become pilots and fly for fun or as a career,” Darrel Jones, vice president of the local chapter, said.

According to Jones, more than 75 kids who have taken part in local Young Eagles flights have gone on to get their private pilot’s license, which can be achieved at just 16 years old. To make the licenses even more accessible, the local chapter helps fund parts of the journey.

Before a license can be obtained, a student must log a minimum of 40 hours of flight time. The average cost to obtain a license is around $15,000.

The members of the local chapter ensure that scholarships are highly accessible to young people, especially as the industry experiences a shortage of qualified pilots.

According to the Associated Press, “the government estimates that there will be about 18,000 openings per year for airline and commercial pilots this decade, with many of those replacing retirees. However, the Federal Aviation Administration issued on average only half that number of pilot licenses from 2017 through 2021.”

Pilots are required by federal mandate to retire from commercial service at age 65, and in the pandemic, many of those who neared retirement age opted for an early departure from the workforce.

With a high demand for pilots, getting young people on track to take flight has become more important to the local chapter than ever.

The association has over a dozen scholarships that offer up a minimum of $5,000 toward flight training, and the local chapter has a matching program through the Ray Aviation Scholarship Fund to provide additional dollars, which often totals close to the full amount needed for the initial pilot’s license.

Once an interested student’s scholarship application is accepted, they can train at one of the flight schools in Napa, Santa Rosa or Petaluma.

From the point they start training, it typically takes six months to a year to log enough hours to earn a private pilot license.

Thomas Rickard, a 17 year old student at Cardinal Newman High School, just received his pilot’s license on Feb. 12.

With the help of the Sonoma Skypark’s EAA chapter, he was able to fund and complete his training in just seven months, after logging 61 hours of flight time.

Rickard had been flying radio control planes with his dad since he was a kid, and kept his interest in aviation through high school.

He applied for an Experimental Aircraft Association scholarship online, and met with the local chapter’s scholarship committee. They told him that if he agreed to volunteer with them once a month, helping out with their Saturday barbecue fundraising events, they would grant him the scholarship. He agreed.

Rickard remembers his first solo flight being peaceful — he wasn’t nervous, because he couldn’t be.

“I felt like I was pretty prepared,” Rickard said. “You just kinda had to be calm and collected the entire time.”

His parents were more hesitant, especially when it came to him flying by himself. But they put faith in him, because he loves the view and the speed.

He’s currently working on getting his instrument rating, which will allow him to fly in low visibility. After high school, he’s thinking about completing flight school and becoming a commercial pilot, maybe for Delta Airlines.

According to Jones, many of the students they have sponsored through flight training have gone on to be commercial pilots. He’s always eager to get more kids involved.

He flew solo for the first time at 31, and remembers the feeling as if it was yesterday.

“I remember my heart being in my mouth when I first solo’d,” Jones said. “Your security blanket that was your instructor just walked out the door.”

His passion for aviation has only grown, and seeing the next generation discover how to fly is a joy for him.

“It’s so thrilling to not only share your love for aviation, but to pass that on,” Jones said. “We all have our passion, but to share it is to not have it die with you.”

Weather permitting, EAA Chapter 1268 at Sonoma Skypark Airport will host a Young Eagles Rally on Sunday, March 12, from 9 a.m. to noon, just head down before 11:30 a.m. to sign up. Youth will get a quick ground lesson before being flown through the skies of Sonoma. The skypark is located at 21870 Eighth St. E., Sonoma. The program repeats the second Sunday of each month, in good weather.

Contact the reporter Rebecca Wolff at rebecca.wolff@sonomanews.com.