Youth Aviation Day Offers Flying Fun and Career Opportunities for the Next Generation, Part 1: Event Survey

By Carmelo Turdo

The First Annual Youth Aviation Day, held Saturday at Creve Coeur Airport, offered high flying fun and an opportunity to connect with local aviation organizations in a family-friendly atmosphere. The event, conceived by the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation and enthusiastically adopted by the airport as a public outreach initiative, honors the Foundation's mission of inspiring the next generation to discover the world of aviation. Visitors to Youth Aviation Day had a wide variety of activities to enjoy, including aviation club exhibits in the Foundation hangar, pedal planes for the younger children, aircraft displays from area businesses, free EAA Young Eagle flights and ride opportunities in the Gateway Chapter Army Aviation Heritage Foundation Vietnam-era Army Huey and Cobra helicopters. 

In this multi-part series, The Aero Experience reports on the many unique aspects of this new Midwest Aviation event in support of the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation. In Part One, we present a survey of the day's activities, with more detailed coverage to come this week. We thank all of the event sponsors, especially Mungenast St. Louis Acura and Alton Toyota, Team Gateway to a Cure, Schaefer's Hobby Shop, Gateway Flight Training, and those who donated to the Foundation in recent weeks. 

At the entrance to Youth Aviation Day, visitors could check out the new Mungenast Acura models and get a bite to eat from the Doughboy's Wood Fired Pizza food truck.

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation provided a range of activities, including pedal planes, F-4 cockpit and OH-58C aircraft displays, and a host of local aviation organizations in the Foundation hangar. Aircraft from local businesses were on display nearby. We will include more coverage of Youth Aviation Day participants later in this series. Included here are Wicks Aircraft Supply, St. Louis Rocketry Association, St. Louis Community College, Wings of Hope Young Ambassadors, UAS Unmanned Aircraft Systems, St. Charles County Veterans Museum, Southwestern Illinois College, Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum and Air Choice One.

Other aviation organizations provided aircraft displays for Youth Aviation Day, including Parks College of St. Louis University, Civil Air Patrol, International Aerobatics Club Chapter 61, MO Commemorative Air Force, Ideal Aviation, Greater St. Louis Flight Instructors Association, Army Aviation Heritage Foundation Gateway Chapter and STL Aviators Flying Club.

Several medical services helicopters were also on display, including Air Methods Life Net and Survival Flight. 

Tours of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum were available during the day, and here we include a sneak preview of what is on display in just one of the hangars. 

Young Eagle flights were provided to youth aged 8-17 free of charge during the event. Special thanks to EAA Chapters 32, 1402 and 64 for taking 75 Young Eagles on their first flights. 

The Gateway Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation flew over 200 passengers on Youth Aviation Day - 20 Huey flights and 14 Cobra flights. Here we show the pre-flight briefing for a Huey flight and launches for both helicopters.

The very successful First Annual Youth Aviation Day was a team effort among the Creve Coeur Airport host organizations and the participants who answered the call without hesitation. The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation thanks everyone who worked hard all year to make this event possible! 

This comment from a visitor to Youth Aviation Day sums up the goal of the event. Thanks for the great feedback, and best wishes to you in the future!

"I just want to thank you so much for hosting this event. My daughter has been smiling ear to ear over her first flight. This was such a fantastic event you held! I hope there are plans for next year so we can plan our vacation around it 😉 This flight may have helped her figure out a little bit more which way to go for a career."

Check back for more coverage of Youth Aviation Day coming soon on The Aero Experience!