Published July 2001

Aviation event fun
for whole family

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

As it has for the past four years, the Arlington EAA Fly-In this year will kick off with Kids Day, a day when all children are admitted to the event for free and can enjoy activities and educational workshops geared toward them.

Kids Day is “huge” for the fly-in’s mission: educating people about aviation, Executive Director Barbara Tolbert said.

“Our infrastructure, our cities and things, have changed so much. We have kids from the inner-cities who have never been to a small airport. Sea-Tac is all they know when it comes to aviation,” Tolbert said.

During Kids Day, which will be July 11 this year, there will be flight simulators and rocket- and kite-building activities, among others, Tolbert said, and the Arlington Fire Department and Arlington DARE program will participate, too.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “they’ll do all of these fun things, and then we do a special air show for them at 3 o’ clock,” Tolbert said.

But Kids Day isn’t the only day for children’s entertainment.

Throughout the five-day fly-in at Arlington Airport, children ages 8 to 17 can take an airplane ride for free as part of the EAA Aviation Foundation’s Young Eagles program. The program’s goal is to fly 1 million youths nationwide by 2003 — the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ flight and the 50th anniversary of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

“It started in 1994, ... and so far, to date, over 700,000 kids have been flown,” Tolbert said. “The pilots volunteer their time and airplanes and their fuel.”

On the days following Kids Day, children 15 and younger are admitted to the fly-in for free.

“So a family of four or five can come here for a fraction of the cost it would cost them to go to a movie — and get a whole day’s worth of entertainment,” Tolbert said.

Along with the exhibits, workshops and air shows, the fly-in has an outdoor theater, with feature-length films running nightly.

“Our event is really, truly a family event,” Tolbert said. “We kind of jokingly call ourselves a ‘country fair with airplanes.' "

Related: Year-round planning pays off for fly-in

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