Classic Aircraft Used to Give Youth First Flight Experience

By Carmelo Turdo

EAA Chapter 64 held a Young Eagle flying event at St. Louis Downtown Airport Sunday, flying eleven Boy Scouts from the local St. Louis Area Council with three very different aircraft types: Piper Arrow, Cessna 305A/O-1 Bird Dog, and Ercoupe 415E. The flights were staged from the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum, located in historic Curtiss-Wright Hangar 2 on the west apron. EAA Chapter 64, the museum and the Boy Scouts of America have been working together for several years to equip local youth with the knowledge and enthusiasm to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, including aviation.

In this post, we highlight the two classic aircraft used to fly some of the Scouts - Tom Murrell's 1948 Ercoupe 415E and John and Elizabeth Schaefer's 1951 Cessna 305A/O-1 Bird Dog. Both aircraft contributed much to the advancement of aviation in both civilian and military service, and though not particularly rare, they are not found at every airport. More importantly, their pilots often share their love of aviation by providing Young Eagle flights in these iconic aircraft. The Aero Experience would like to show our appreciation through the following photo essay: