Young Eagles Take Flight

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Starkville, Miss. (WCBI) — The Mississippi Summer Transportation Institute teamed up with the local Experimental Aviation Association for the Young Eagles program.

The MSTI is made up of selected 9th and 10th graders from around the state of Mississippi who were chosen based on academic success and a written essay.

The Young Eagles, which is ran by the the local EAA Chapter 1189, gives young kids the chance to fly in home-made planes and use the opportunity to gauge their interests.

“I just want to get some experience to see if engineering interest me and my career”, said MSTI student Zach Turba.

And after their Turba’s first flight in a homemade aircraft, he said that it topped everything else in camp.

“It’s been my favorite part so far by a lot, because we were up in the sky and it was fun hitting the bumps and seeing all the cool features.”

The goal of the program is to get young kids excited about science and math and hopefully inspire them towards careers such as engineering, aviation, or the military.

“It’s always a fun thing, it’s always a fun experience…”, says President of the local EAA Andy Fultz, “…to introduce some of these young people to aviation. Some of them have never flown before and some of them may never get the opportunity to fly again, but they’ll always remember their first flight.”

The Young Eagles is a program the operates year round.