This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Monday, February 12, 2007.
By TITUS GEE
Valley Press Staff Writer
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LANCASTER - An excited hush surrounded Hayley Spencer , 9, as she stepped into the tiny cockpit of an experimental aircraft Saturday morning at Gen. William J. Fox Airfield.
Pilot Bryan Duke fastened Hayley's seat belt and adjusted the head set to its smallest setting, while her mom, Michele Spencer , hovered nearby with camera flashing.
"It really suits her," Michele Spencer said.
Hayley just nodded, grinning over the edge of the cockpit like she had been doing it all her life.
In fact, this would be Hayley's first flight. She was one of 22 youngsters, aged 7 to 17, who signed up for a Young Eagles Flight Rally, presented by two local chapters of the Experimental Aircraft Association. The kids learned about how airplanes work, then took to the skies for individual flying lessons.
"I'll show her some turns, some climbs and descents," Duke said. "Then I'll let her fly for a bit, see how she likes that."
"No barrel rolls," Michele Spencer cautioned, but once the pair had taxied the RV-6 to the runway for take off, Mom said she had no worries.
"I've flown with him before. I've flown in that plane," Spencer said. "He had me doing barrel rolls in 30 minutes."
Turns out Brian recently graduated from test pilot school at Edward's Air Force Base with Spencer's husband, Hayley's dad.
"She wants to fly because her dad flies for the Air Force," Spencer said.
She watched as the aerobatic little plane shot into the air, hardly appearing to need the runway.
"She's gotta be stoked right now," Spencer said. "My daughter's an adrenaline junky."
In the next half hour, young Hayley got a taste of grown-up excitement. On the way to Rosamond, Duke got the plane up to 200 mph. On the way back, Hayley got to take the controls.
Meanwhile, a steady stream of other kids followed trim young military airmen or gray and grizzled veteran enthusiasts to a variety of private small aircraft. Pilots, from EAA chapters 49 and 1000, donated their time and the use of their personal aircraft, and Fox Field donated fuel, said Tanya Duke , the coordinator of the flight rally and Bryan Duke's wife.
The idea of the Young Eagles program is to build enthusiasm among potential pilots of the next generation, the coordinator said.
"To show kids that anyone can fly a plane. It's not just the rich man's hobby," she said.
The Dukes coordinate a Young Eagles Flight Rally every other month, Tanya Duke said. Bryan Duke serves as pilot coordinator.
Interest in the February event was so strong that they might add another rally during March, she said.
On the flight line, Bryan Duke brought the RV-6 in for a gentle landing and taxied into a parking space.
Hayley still seemed to be flying when she danced around the tail end to meet her mom.
"That was really cool!" Hayley said.
"She did great," the pilot said. "She flew us around Rosamond and all the way back here."
"That was my favorite part," Hayley said.
An official brought out a certificate signed by Bryan Duke and EAA president Harrison Ford.
Pilot and future-pilot posed for a Polaroid and the Spencers headed back toward the terminal. Hayley's name will be registered at www.youngeagles.org and recorded in the "World's Biggest Log Book" at the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosk, Wis.
Bryan Duke said he has been overseeing first flights like this one for 10 years.
Despite the fact that he flies F-16s for a living, he said the novelty of his own small plane has not worn off.
"This is every bit as fun," he said. "And I can't take my F-16 to lunch."
For details on the Young Eagles program, visit www.youngeagles.org, and for information on future rallies, contact Tanya Duke .