The Air Journey
by Jack FitzGerald

Well it all happened about a year ago. Here's the story:
One day (September 6th to be exact) my Dad and I were driving in the car we we saw a man walking home. We asked him if he knew about all the airplanes flying around. He said it was Young Eagles. I had been in this program before so I decided to go again.
We drove the man to his house which was very close to ours. Then I set off to my flying journey.
When we got to Jabara Airport I stepped out of the car and looked at all the planes. There were some nice planes. Then I signed a form and got a red Aerosport biplane. This is a type of stunt-plane. It was the plane I was hoping for. The pilot came to me and we got acquainted.
I named some parts of the plane such as the elevators and vertical stabilizer. The pilot gave me a helmet with an intercom system in it and we hopped in. The plane was open except for the windshield sides, and floor.
We taxied to the runway and were off. When we got to about 500 feet he explained to me some of the plane's features.
Then he said, "You take over." So I started flying for the first time, getting used to the aerobatic system of the red biplane.
We flew around for a while until he said, "Take it around the lake." So I took the biplane around the lake and started back. I flew until we got close to the runway of Jabara. Then the pilot said, "I'll take it from here." He landed very professionly (a three point landing) and we taxied back to the parking aera. I thanked the man.
We got some pictures and some hot-dogs. We ate and found some cool planes to sit by. I got a certificate congratulating me on my first flight. I have that very certificate to this day in a frame. While my Dad was talking I thought, "Jack, you just learned how to fly!"