Flight Experience for Youth (FEFY), in collaboration with Sugarbush Soaring Association, is holding a Soaring Discovery Day for Youth on Saturday, July 22, at Warren-Sugarbush Airport in Warren.
The event is free and open to the public and aims to introduce youth aged 13-18 to the soaring. Participants will attend ground school, tour the airport, learn about Sugarbush Soaring’s youth programs, and enjoy the opportunity to connect with like-minded students and aviation professionals. Highlights will include learning how to assemble a glider and watching the line crew in action as they launch and recover the gliders. A raffle will be held at the end of the day for five free glider rides.
“Through the process of learning to fly, youth gain skills that go well beyond learning to pilot an aircraft. Flying requires deep knowledge of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects, hands-on mechanical skills, and a high level of independence and responsibility. As young people master the skills necessary to be good pilots, they also cement the critical thinking and leadership skills that will serve them well throughout many areas of their lives,” said Jen Stamp, FEFY president. “This year, we’re opening the event to youth throughout New England, and we hope that they will take advantage of learning about soaring and of the many aviation opportunities offered by FEFY and Sugarbush Soaring.”
FEFY was founded in 2004 by Bob Messner, Pete Ranney, Dave Ellis, and Frank Rodgers.
“They were long-term thinkers, thinking about the future of the airport and getting young people into aviation and gliding. They created the 501C3 that gives youth the opportunity to experience aviation and growth in their life. FEFY doesn’t do any programming, it funds programming through Sugarbush Soaring,” explained Tom Anderson, Sugarbush Soaring, director of operations
Sugarbush Soaring runs the annual summer youth soaring camps, and the line crew program.
The line crew program pairs some eight to 10 youths with Sugarbush Soaring where they receive soaring flights and lessons for their line crew work. They also help with airport operations, maintenance, and other tasks, said Anderson.
Line crew members start training in May and work on the airport weekends until they’re out of school.
“They contribute a lot of their time and effort. They’re always chipping in in activity that isn’t just flying. The cool thing about line crew program is to see what these kids are capable of. They’re all looking for something different than what school provides. They’re outliers in a positive way. They are interested in things. Some are interested in flying professionally, or the Navy, or Air Force, some become engineers, some are living their lives and flying recreationally. But they all coalesced around learning to fly,” he added.
The youth soaring camps were started in the 1990s by Bill and Millie Stinson. Anderson and Stamp got involved in 2005. There are two camps a year, each with nine campers. The soaring camps attract kids from all over the world and the country. This year there are kids from Spain and Switzerland. There were 90 inquiries for the camp this summer and 45 kids on the waiting list. Camps are for kids ages 13-18. The first camp runs July 9 to 15 and the second July 30 to August 5.
Participants camp onsite with meals provided by camp officials. In addition to learning to soar, they visit the Burlington Airport air traffic tower, visit local attractions, and learn under the big tent near the airport tower building. Campers get an hour of ground school each day and two instructional flights each day. FEFY provides $13,600 in scholarships.
Anderson said that those scholarships help diversify those who attend. This year and last year a donor provided a scholarship for an African-American camper and there’s a scholarship for an LGBTQ camper and another scholarship is the Luke Hammer Scholarship named after a Montpelier man who died young. Those are full $3,600 scholarships. Additionally, there are several partial scholarships.
While Sugarbush Soaring is gearing up for the start of the first camp this week, the airport remains a busy hive of activity.
“Demand for flying is really high. Not just for scenic flights. Sugarbush Soaring is known for its instructional facilities which are available all week. Not too many soaring operations have full-time staff. Our seven instructors are super experienced. On days that weather is good people come from Boston, Maine, and all over the country to train here.
For more information and to register for the youth soaring day, visit Sugarbush Soaring’s website at www.sugarbushsoaring.com.
Soaring Discovery Day is sponsored by the Rotary Club of the Mad River Valley.
