Tyler’s Tailwind

By Tyler Whitney, for Aviation Insider, EAA 1019639 November 2, 2011 — Do you remember when you flew your first Young Eagles? It was such a joy and a thrill for both you and the kids but more of a thrill for you the pilot. I remember flying my first Young Eagles in 2010 just about two-and-a-half weeks after I got my private pilot certificate. The Young Eagles flight took place July 23, such a beautiful day. It would be that night my aviation life would be changed for the better; I remember it like it was yesterday. Around six in the evening I went to the airport to get checked out in the Cessna 172 since it had been about a year I had last flown one. Up to that time, I regularly had been flying a Beechcraft Sundowner, a beautiful airplane that I’ve grown to love. My passengers were a special group of kids, my siblings. Thankfully I had only three of them so we were all able to go up at the same time. It was only supposed to be about a 20-minute flight, but we had so much fun that we couldn’t see everything that we wanted to in 20 minutes. The flight ended up around 40 minutes. We flew back during sunset, and several miles away while we were under clear skies, a thunderstorm was showing its color of light. It was an awesome sight to see up in the air, as a first-time Young Eagles pilot. Each issue, Tyler Whitney of California provides a Young Eagle-turned-Young Eagle pilot perspective on aviation. Tyler was the first Young Eagle to pass his private pilot knowledge exam after completing the Sporty's Complete Pilot Training Course.

Tyler Whitney

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