An inclination for aviation: Students learn to fly with real airplane pilot

Two boys showed their aptitude for altitude inside the Emily Warner Field Aviation Museum on Friday.

“Do you want to be a pilot more or less now?” asked commercial airline pilot Aaron Skinner, as the boys took turns on the museum’s flight simulator.

“Way more,” Elijah Boomer replied.

At the museum, Elijah and his friend, Alex Riesberg, were engaged, attentive and all about airplanes while Skinner gave them hands-on instruction for Fly with an Airline Pilot Day, a three-hour event for children of all ages.

The boys quickly learned flying is easier than landing, and they did a couple “land Sullies” before the day was over, a reference to Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s successful landing of a commercial jet in the Hudson River in 2009.

Skinner volunteered his time for the event, and he served as an instructor, educator and co-pilot while children piloted different kinds of planes on the flight simulator.

Working with Elijah and Alex, Skinner and the boys all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

The museum’s flight simulators were donated by the Fantasy of Flight Foundation. The museum is inside the former Rocky Mountain Airways airline terminal at the Grand County Airport.

For more about the museums of the Grand County Historical Association, go to GrandCountyHistory.org.