Area EAA chapter hopes to create more aviation enthusiasts
Page 4 • Wednesday, April 10, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
EAA, from Page 1
Officially chartered in 1966, the
Williamstown-based non-profit
organization has built up a large
and diverse membership, with
members ranging from ages 17 to
90. During its meetings, which
begin at 7:30 p.m. on the third
Wednesday of every month at
Cross Keys Airport (421 Airport
Drive, Williamstown), EAA
Chapter 216 members receive
vital knowledge about the inner
workings of the aviation industry,
regardless of whether or not their
ultimate goal is learning to fly.
“You really set your own pace
with whatever you want to do. If
you want to be a private pilot and
just fly daytime in the sunlight,
you can. Or if you want to get into
instrument reading, you can. It’s
completely up to you what you do
with it, and some people just want
to be around planes and they’re
satisfied with that,” Hammonton
resident and chapter member
Frank Priolo said.
Priolo, a two-year member of
Chapter 216, has had a passion for
aviation ever since he served as
aviation operations specialist in
the Marine Corps, but it wasn’t
until his recent retirement that he
was able to fully immerse himself
in his hobby and begin working
towards earning his pilot’s license.
“I’ve always wanted to fly.
When I turned 70, my wife said I
have to get a hobby, and I said ‘I
want to learn how to fly.’ It took
off from there. I started taking fly-
ing lessons and I started looking
around for groups that are avia-
tion-oriented,”
Priolo said McDowell and the
rest of Chapter 216 welcomed him
with open arms after he discov-
ered the group’s website and in-
quired about joining.
Under McDowell’s leadership,
EAA Chapter 216 has operated
with a set of core values predi-
cated on safety, inclusiveness and
integrity.
“Everyone is welcome. We
don’t have any barriers at all, ex-
cept you can’t be anything other
‘the good guy,’ meaning: do
things safe and be honest. If you
mess something up—if you acci-
dentally hit a guy’s airplane—you
need to tell them,” McDowell
said.
In order to maintain its stable
membership numbers, EAA
Chapter 216 actively strives to en-
gage nonmembers throughout the
region in the hopes of creating
more aviation enthusiasts that
may eventually become EAA
members.
McDowell said it’s especially
vital to reach out to southern New
Jersey’s youth in its outreach ef-
forts.
“The younger you are, the
quicker you can pick it up, and
that’s the way it is. When you
come to realize that age has a little
bit of a factor on it—not much,
but a little bit—well, then you just
deal with it. But I’ve had a passion
for flying for a long, long while,”
McDowell said.
As a method of fostering avia-
tion interest among area children,
EAA Chapter 216 offers a Young
Eagle program, which provides
free airplane rides to children be-
tween the ages of 8 and 17.
McDowell said the program has
been a substantially rewarding ex-
perience for him, the chapter’s fel-
low pilots and all of the
adventurous children that have
participated since its inception.
“We take them up for free rides,
and sometimes, once they get to a
safe altitude and the kid in the
front seat seems to be OK, the
pilot will let him steer the airplane
a little bit. It does wonders to
change these kids; they’ll never
forget it,” McDowell said.
On May 18, aviation enthusiasts
of all ages will be able to receive
their own Young Eagle experience
during Chapter 216’s Flying Start
See FLIGHT, Page 13
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