Project has kids flying high

www.lacanadaoutlook.com, LaCanada, Flintridge, California
www.lacanadaoutlook.com/stories/081106/CommunityMain.shtml
More than 100 special needs children, joined by families and friends, recently got the ride of their lives—and they even got to take the controls.

Twenty two volunteer pilots flew 116 special needs children from the Los Angeles area, joined by 123 adults, 29 friends and siblings, out of Whiteman Airport for 30-minute flights over Magic Mountain and Newhall pass as part of the “Challenge Air for Kids and Friends” project. The children found great joy in being able to hold the controls and fly the plane themselves. 

The event was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Washington Mutual and Hollywood aviators. Kiwanis club members and Flintridge Preparatory School Key Club members served as coordinators and assisted the pilots when the planes were on the ground.

After receiving a lecture on safety, each team was assigned to a single plane and pilot for the day. The children were awarded wings, pinned on by the pilot, and a signed certificate that certifies that they had flown an airplane.

In addition to the flying, there were activities for the kids to enjoy from static aircraft, a bounce house, canine companions, face painting and crafts. Hot dogs were provided by Hot Diggity Dog and hamburgers by In-N-Out Burgers.

Challenge Air for Kids and Friends, an all-volunteer organization, conducts 16 events a year across the country. It was started by Rick Amber, a sports enthusiast and Navy fighter pilot, who lost the use of his legs after crashing a plane in a combat mission while serving in Vietnam.

Amber, who died in 1997, launched the nonprofit group 15 years ago so that disabled people could see the world from a different point of view.