AlWood Community District #225

Stearman Fly In trip was a great experience. We came in at the end of the pilot briefing this year, but we were pretty promptly welcomed by some staff and some pilots there for the event. The kids sat in on a little bit of a technical seminar before the staff arranged a private Q&A session with 2 wonderful pilots, along with quite a few extra pilots on the airfield. This is not an area usually open to the public. The pilots showed all of the kids up close, all of the access areas throughout the airframes, showed off the engine and prop, and,  gave them a brief history lesson on the PT17 and its uses in history. Towards the end of the session they asked if anyone would like to enter the aircraft, to which about half obliged. He talked them through the controls in the cockpit, and had them even move the yolk around and show how the plane would move in the air as the different surfaces moved around. As we were finishing up the pilot offered all of the students an incredibly generous opportunity, if they came back down with a parent, they would take them up for free. Typically these flights run like $2-250, and that really just covers the fuel burned. As we ended off the flight line we swarmed the gift shop, got some fun plane goodies and took a final walk down the taxiway to see some hangers with private planes being worked on.