Young Eagles December 2024 Updates

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As 2024 comes to conclusion, I’d like to take the time to thank each and every volunteer that has supported Young Eagles over the course of the year. I continue to be amazed by the dedication across the program.

To the pilots who give so generously of their aircraft, operating expenses, and time – I wish there was more EAA could do to thank you for all you put into the program.

As for the Young Eagles coordinators, I know dozens of you take time out of your personal lives to plan the perfect Young Eagles rally, often at the expense of PTO at work or your precious personal time. The program would have a fraction of the impact without your efforts.

And to the ground volunteers, the unsung heroes of your chapter’s rallies. You are simultaneously the glue that holds the events together, as well as the grease that keeps the gears in motion. You play the most important role of greeting the families as they check in, safely escorting attendees around the ramp, and educating the families in all the aviation opportunities EAA and your chapter offer.

It takes all kinds of kinds to keep Young Eagles as the standard for youth aviation programs, and your efforts are so greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to 2025, EAA is working on an opportunity that will allow us to better recognize the collective efforts of Young Eagles volunteers.

Enjoy the entire holiday season, and I look forward to another fantastic year of helping introduce the next generation to aviation.

Tailwinds,

The Young Eagles program had another fantastic year, and in some cases the program exceeded previous record numbers!

• 55,000-plus Young Eagles flown
• 4,750 Young Eagles pilots
• 1,305 first-time Young Eagles pilots (most in the past decade)
• 354 Young Eagles passed the FAA Knowledge Exam and took advantage of EAA’s reimbursement opportunity
• 946 Young Eagles completed at least half of the Sporty’s Learn to Fly Course and qualified for a $160 flight lesson voucher
  • 208 Young Eagles flight lesson vouchers claimed

Young Eagles Chairman Jimmy Graham wanted to drop in and say thank you to all the Young Eagles volunteers from 2024, as well as share appreciation for some volunteers that met a major milestone in 2024.

Thank you, Young Eagles volunteers!

Congrats to Cameron Rucinski, EAA 1200780 for flying her first Young Eagles!

Congrats to Heidi Neumann, EAA 1566055, for flying her first Young Eagles!

A special congrats to Nick Meyer, EAA Lifetime 1044695, for flying his 50th Young Eagle, as well as thanks for his work as an FAA air traffic controller.

Welcome to the 1,000 Young Eagles Missions club, and thank you for being a great coordinator, Pat Cohenour, EAA 621397.

A brief, but very important, reminder about the Young Eagles program policies that must be followed when flying youths one-off or hosting a chapter rally.

• A pilot and parent/legal guardian signature are required before every Young Eagles flight. Waivers submitted with missing signatures will result in a warning from EAA, and the pilots will not receive credits for their flight. Multiple missing signature offenses will result in program suspension. These signatures from the pilot and parent are critical to proper program operations, and failure to acquire the proper signatures before the flight could prove detrimental.
• All volunteer pilots must have completed EAA’s Youth Protection Training and passed the background check before flying Young Eagles. A pending background check does not count as passed – pilot must wait for the approval. If a pilot does provide a flight without the Youth Protection Training and/or background check completed, the pilot will not receive credit for the flight. Multiple offenses may result in program suspension.
• EAA chapter event insurance must be requested 30 days prior to the event. If event insurance is requested less than 30 days prior to the event, a certificate of insurance may not be issued.

The insurance extended to pilots and chapters is done so with the understanding that all program policies will be followed. Failure to follow these policies puts the insurance coverage at risk. Without this coverage, the program’s future would be in jeopardy.

Thank you for keeping Young Eagles as the leading youth aviation program and ensuring that the program is run as safely as possible!

As previous updates have noted, the new Young Eagles Online Registration Tool was launched into the production environment in October 2024.

The beta testing that was completed in August and September uncovered a number of bugs and potential enhancements. The developer was swift to address the bugs that were identified in beta testing. However, several of the potential enhancements found during testing were not to be completed by the developer, as they were beyond the scope of the original requirements document. As mentioned in September, many of those enhancements were placed in Phase 2 development, which is now in progress.

With the launch of the new tool into production, there were also several new bugs found that EAA has been working to address. These bugs range from some volunteer permissions errors on the back end, walk-up/waitlist functionality, as well as some new iPad syncing errors.

We anticipated finding new bugs as we rolled into production, but the Young Eagles and IT teams here at EAA are committed to addressing those bugs as swiftly as possible.

As a reminder, there will be a live training webinar on December 17 at 7 p.m. CST. You can register for that webinar here.

EAA will also be conducting a final migration of profiles from YEDay to the new EAA Chapter Events system at the end of 2024/early 2025.

As we work through the launch of this new tool, please do not hesitate in contacting our office directly at yeagles@eaa.org or 800-564-6322.

EAA chapters only have a few weeks left to use the Young Eagles credits earned in 2023. Chapters have until December 31, 2024, to spend these credits. Reimbursements for these credits are due January 21, 2025.

• Supplies for the chapter’s Young Eagles program; i.e. iPads for digital signatures, printer for certificates/waivers, safety equipment, promotional materials, volunteer appreciation gifts, etc.
• Young Eagles Workshops kits, to hold a chapter-hosted youth day camp.
• Young Eagles Build and Fly kits, for RC aircraft construction activities for youths.
• Young Eagles apparel for chapter members to wear during Young Eagles rallies. Customizable EAA chapter/Young Eagles apparel can be found at EAA.org/ChapterGear.
  • Username: chapter## (ex. Chapter 252) | Password: ### (eg. 252)

Sponsoring a youth to EAA’s Air Academy has been a common use for the credits. Unfortunately, all the 2025 camps have already filled to capacity. If you have questions about future camp opportunities, or waitlist opportunities, please email airacademy@eaa.org.

The good news? EAA has published a wide range of approved uses for the credits. This comprehensive list, which includes technology needs, durable goods, additional youth programming, teen build programming, volunteer recognition, and much more was updated in early 2024.

You can review the list of approved items and request your chapter’s reimbursement for approved purchases at EAA.org/YECredits. Credits earned in 2024 will be communicated to the chapter in mid-February 2025.