Spanish Fork residents help Young Eagles soar over Manti
The communities of Ephraim and Manti are rural towns about eight miles apart and 100 air miles south of the Salt Lake metropolitan area. Their combined population is about 10,000 people.
In late September, Young Eagle Flights were conducted by EAA Chapter 753 from Provo. The Young Eagle Flights are for youngsters age 8 to 17 to experience aviation in a small airplane and hopefully create future pilots. Out of this small-town population, 74 young people took flights and for many of them it was the first time they had ever been in an airplane.
The Young Eagles came from 46 families in the Ephraim Manti area and included 46 boys and 28 girls.
A number of the towns people, including the City Manager of Ephraim, Shawn Kjar were out to the airport to see what was going on. A common question was will you do this next year and do you have a program for adults? The answer to these questions is that with this much excitement about flying, absolutely, yes.
The flights were conducted at the Manti-Ephraim Airport (41U) with four airplanes. EAA members Jeremy Hallows, Ted Meikle, and Tom Herbert were local pilots supporting the event and Cris Child flew down from Spanish Fork. Ground support was provided by Provo EAA Chapter 753 members Bob Bairband, TJ Rasband, Nate Rasband, Ed and Janice Helmick. Foreign students from nearby Snow College assisted with administrative duties and escorting the young people to and from the airplanes.