Kids Fly High At Overton Airport Day

Seventy Moapa Valley kids soared to unforgettable heights on Saturday with the help of eight Southern Nevada pilots who transformed a delightful end-of-summer day into a dazzling and unforgettable moment in time by giving the kids free 20-minute flights.

The short airplane rides were part of the 17th Annual Overton Airport Day sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA); a group of local women pilots called The Ninety-Nines,

“The EAA Young Eagle Flight Rallies were started in 1992 to give kids interested in planes and flight a chance to experience what it’s all about,” said Mardell Haskins, an Airport Day founder and promoter. “We initially kicked it off in Moapa Valley for boy scouts who wanted to earn an aviation merit badge. One of the badge requirements was that the scout had to go up in a plane.”

Since 1992 the EAA Young Eagles program has provided more than 1.4 million flights for young people from more than 90 different countries, Haskins said. EAA members volunteer their time and aircraft for the flights. EAA pilots in Southern Nevada who participated last Saturday included Terry Fraizer, Mike Smith, Fred Wilson, Armin Tuma, Ralph Millard, Michael Groom and Chuck Herrmann.

EAA pilot Ralph Millard said that depending on a few factors such as height, some of the kids were given a hands-on chance to see how the plane felt in the air.

“The kids sitting in the co-pilot’s seat got to handle the controls a little,” Millard said. “They loved it. And since safety is of the utmost importance we always do a pre-flight check of the aircraft and the kids also got to participate in that.”

Pilot Mike Groom explained that although it almost always turns out to be an exciting and memorable experience for the kids, “sometimes you have to reassure them a little before takeoff.”

Once airborne, however, it was pure heaven for the youngsters. Judging by the smiles after the flights, there were no emergencies Saturday, just a day that will be treasured for a lifetime.

Haskins estimated 800 people visited the airport during this year’s Airport Day.

The Overton airport started as a dirt runway in the 1930s so owners of the sandpit where Simplot now stands would have a place to land when they flew into Moapa Valley. Later called Perkins Field, it was christened in 1947 by the precursor to the FAA to give pilots flying out of Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas a place to land in an emergency.