Teenager takes to the air for the first time
Oakland teen got to fly for the first time ever as part of San Francisco Fleet Week
OAKLAND » San Francisco Fleet Week was ready for take- off Thursday morning, and so was 13- yearold Chris Cheam as he waited to fly for the first time ever.
A student at Oakland’s Madison Park Academy, Cheam admitted he was a bit nervous as he sat in a lounge at Oakland International Airport.
Yards outside, F/A 18 Hornets of the U. S. Navy’s Blue Angels were parked on the tarmac surrounded by pilots and crew, prompting passersby to get out of their cars and snap photos on their phones.
“Never in my life I thought I’d be on a plane,” Cheam said as he sat with his former teacher Bianca Lorenz, who arranged the student’s f light through “Young Eagles,” a program of the U. S. Experimental Aircraft Association.
The program gives young people an opportu- nity to experience a trip in the air, and hopefully, pique their interest in aviation.
Not only was the flight in the Xtra 300L — a single- engine propeller mono- plane where Cheam sat under a glass dome behind pilot Sean Tucker — a first for the Oakland teenager, it was a first for his family.
His parents, two brothers and sister have never flown.
The Oakland teenager’s flight was just one of a host of activities for Fleet Week, which will culminate this weekend with the Blue Angels soaring over San Francisco.
The public can tour the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship that will be docked at Pier 30/ 32, and the USS Manchester, a landing craft utility combat ship, at Pier 35.
The Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Vancover, a Halifax- class frigate, can be toured at Pier 15/17.
Other activities include a veterans art exhibit at the Cannery Galleries, 2801 Leavenworth St. in San Francisco, and a “High School Band Challenge” from 10 a. m. to 2 p. m. Monday at the Bandshell at Golden Gate Park. The United States Marine Corps 1st Marine Division Band will kick off the concert.
Cheam’s flight initially swung west over the Oakland hills. The aircraft swept over the East Bay and the streets where the student and his family live.
The red- and-white aircraft also passed over the Bay Bridge and San Francisco.
Pilot Sean Tucker pulled the stick back and sent the plane shooting straight into the sky, and he sent it into a dive.
“I did not know he was going to do tricks,” Cheam joked afterward.
The best thing about the flight?
“Meeting him,” Cheam said, referring to the pilot. “My dad and I looked him up before I got to fly. He’s brought hundreds of peoples on flights.”
The Young Eagles program has f lown more than 2 million children in 90 countries since it was launched in 1992.
“Oh,” Cheam said when back on the ground. “I had a fear of heights. I don’t think I have that anymore.”