Waupaca airport hosts Young Eagles event
By James Card
EAA Chapter 444 hosted a Young Eagles Aviation Exploration Day at the Waupaca Municipal Airport on Saturday, Sept. 24.
It was almost cancelled because of bad weather but airport manager Matt Klatt hopped in a plane, flew up to the cloud base and determined it was safe enough for taking the 50 youths who signed up for their introductory fights.
Throughout the day, volunteer pilots took youths for a 20-minute spin around Waupaca airspace. They wore headsets and the pilots talked them through how the plane was manipulated and handled.
Four planes were in rotation: a Piper Cherokee, a Cessna Cardinal, a Piper Tri-Pacer and a Flight Design CTSW.
Chapter President Mike Ryszkiewicz organized the event. He was one of five pilots giving youths their first experience in riding in a small aircraft. The other pilots were Nikki Gaskins, Bruce Doscher, Lucky Oldfield and Noah Lencki.
Of all the pilots that the kids could connect with, Lencki was their closest role model as he wasn’t much older than some of them. Lencki is a 2020 Waupaca High School graduate and got interested in aviation through the Young Eagles program.
“Young Eagles sparked it and so did the EAA Air Venture in Oshkosh. It was events like this that I did several times at a young age. It’s a great industry to get into and now there is a lot of opportunity. There are a lot of different programs with EAA that can help you out and give you a guide for a career path,” said Lencki.
During his senior year in high school he earned his private pilot’s license at the Waupaca airport. In August of 2020, he enrolled in the aviation program at Fox Valley Technical College and has already earned his instrument rating and is certified as a commercial pilot, a commercial multi-engine pilot, a multi-engine flight instructor, a single-engine flight instructor and in two weeks, an instrument flight instructor.
“Just looking at him as a young adult and looking at the kids that are here: you can go down that same path. You can be a certified flight instructor by the time you are 21. You can get into aviation. You just have to follow yourself down this path and be involved and come to events and learn about airplanes and what they do and you can do it,” said Ryszkiewicz.
Hands-on experience
While waiting for their flight, two flight simulators were running: an X-Plane 11 simulator shown on two monitors and Microsoft’s Flight Simulator shown on three monitors. The three-monitor set-up was more realistic as the two monitors positioned on the left and right made it appear that the pilot could look out of the side windows.
Ryszkiewicz said that through Bing Maps, the program could be set up so a pilot could fly over the Chain O’ Lakes and the city of Waupaca.
Drones were on display. Lencki and Ryszkiewicz are certified drone operators.
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“It’s to give kids an alternative to video games. Getting them off the screen time and letting them do something constructive,” said Ryszkiewicz as he picked up a cardboard model airplane with pre-cut inserts and forms that can be assembled quickly with some hot glue. He explained that an electronics kit can be added to it so the cardboard plane could be flown with a remote. “It’s the coolest thing. Our adult members love them,” he said.
Chapter 444 also does Eagle flights for adults who are curious about aviation. They hold monthly meetings at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month.
Eight slow cookers loaded with chili and hot dogs fed the crowd. Three Angels Dessert Shop and Main Street Popcorn provided snacks.
Shindigs, Waupaca’s candy store, donated gift certificates that could be won by placing and removing clecos into an aluminum block. A cleco is a temporary fastener used to make and repair aluminum-skinned aircraft. The small screw-like device holds the sheet metal together until it can be permanently joined by rivets.
That led to the riveting station where children learned how to fasten rivets into a sheet of thick plastic. Once pressed flush, the children signed their name by their riveting handiwork.