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Little boy outside the fence

Mark Burns

Mark Burns

Well Known Member
Sunday afternoon about an hour before sunset, I land. As I taxi to my hangar which is the second hangar from the entrance gate I notice a young boy taking photos through the gate. A mini-van is parked about 40 feet behind him. I think to myself, I've got to let this little guy in so he can look around!

So I spin around in front of the hangar and jump out of my 7A. I walk briskly over to where he is still standing. As soon as I'm within hearing distance I say loudly "How are you doing". He thinks I said "what are you doing" and he lowers his head and softly says "just taking pictures". I quickly say "No, I said HOW are you doing". He said "fine". I told him I'd open the gate so he could come in and look around. When he heard that he jumped 2 feet straight up in the air and then landed running toward the van screaming "he's going to let us in". I got a lump in my throat.

So, he tells his mom to drive on in and he runs slowly toward me.
The first thing he says when he gets to me is "I'm going to work here someday". I got a lump in my throat.

He's talking 90 miles an hour and I reach out my hand to shake his and ask him what his name is interrupting him. He looks at me and for about 5 seconds it looks like he can't remember his name. Finally "Conner" he says.
Yep, another little lump in my throat.

To make a long story short we (Myself, Zack and Wayne) show him and his mom around for a few minutes before it gets too dark. The little guy must be about 9 years old and has been to the Dayton and Pensacola museums!
He already knows a whole lot about airplanes.

We tell him to come out any Saturday and we can give him a ride. He said "I can't wait to come back"

This was a perfect ending to a perfect day at the airport.

Mark
 
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Payback

Mark, you could have just smiled at the boy. You didn't. You could have just waved to him. You didn't. Even a brief chat at the fence with him and his mom might have made his day. That wasn't enough for you.

I'm not intimidated by riveting, or wiring, or the canopy. Not even by ProSeal (well, maybe a little). But the standard set by you (and Rosie, and Dan, and Doug, and Mel, and Gary, and Paul, and ... well all of you), the standard of giving much more than you take, is intimidating indeed.

I think of the many adults who guided by path to flight as a kid: CAP leaders, mechanics at my local airfield, the D-day glider veteran who taught me math in seventh grade, my CFI. I'm embarrassed to admit that most of them are nameless to me now. Many have passed, so I couldn't find them to thank them even if I tried.

So the only thanks I can offer them, and all of you, is to live up to the standard you have set. I'm in debt, and it's time for payback.

-- Stephen
 
Mark
Great story, have been there myself.
Take him up under the Young Eagle program.
Regards
Jack
 
Mark, I too got a lump in my throat just reading your story. Then I realized that you, and others like you, are my heroes too. God Bless You for your caring heart.
 
Good on you, Mark. Thanks for putting a smile on my face as I head to the airport.
 
Paying It Forward

38+ years ago, a 12 y/o old boy found his way to a small local airport just to "look around". A very kind lady (the airport manager) saw him sitting on the bench, and stopped by to talk with him about airplanes. After about 15 minutes, she invites him to come over and view what had to be the biggest airplane in the world (a Cessna 205). After spending about 20 minutes showing him all the parts and workings of the plane (at that time this boy did not know that it was called a "preflight"), she asks "want to go for a ride"? This young boy was in the door before his answer was finished!
This single act of kindness and patience sparked this kid to make a commitment to aviation. The road was not easy, but then again it really shouldn't be, should it? All these years later I still remember that day, and I never miss a chance to take time to talk with young kids to see if there is possibly a spark that just needs someone to supply the fuel to make their passion burn.
Mark, I sincerely hope that you are in an area where that young boy can return to the airport at his whim, and that he will dedicate himself to asking any and all questions, listening and learning!
 
The pesky kid will probably show up every weekend now, asking questions, lookin around, asking more questions, wanting to for a ride....... I think I'm getting a lump in my throat.

Good for you Mark, your kindness and generousity to this young man will be something he will remember the rest of his life.

Post a picture of the kid after he gets a ride.
 
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Little Guy

Thanks Mark for two things #1 for taking up the time with the young guy with out a doubt it meant the world to him. #2 for taking me back to when I was the young boy looking threw the fence and dreaming.
 
Keeping the Tradition

bet most of us (at least those of us who still can remember being young!) can identify with that little guy at the fence, and can remember with gratitude earlier incarnations of Mark who kept our dreams going.

as well as being encouraged along the way, a lot of us can also probably remember being escorted off of taxiways and ramps, out of hangars, and away from runway thresholds where we shouldn't have been: one of my earliest memories is being driven home by an airport policeman at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City after being apprehended dragging a toy duck on the taxiway and delaying a DC6 that wanted to taxi faster than i could walk at the time! blame it on genetics, tho: have already festooned a few airport fences with my grandchildren and their friends who seem to like hanging on fences as much as i do. don olandese, aka zukeeper
 
Great job Mark! I'm glad to hear there's at least one kid hanging around at the airport fence; it seems like airport kids are few and far between these days. Where are they anyway? At the mall or home playing video games?

I'd like to be able to do as you did and repay the favor that was done for me back when I was a teenage ramp rat. For me it was summer '84, my twin brother and I riding our bikes to the Dallas North Airport to watch airplanes and just hang out, hoping, hoping... then Russ MacDonald in his 172 and Red Marron in his Hawk XP took us flying, next came jobs pumping gas and mowing the grass. I guess the hook was pretty well set at that point. Good times, wouldn't trade it for anything. Thank you to Russ and Red.
 
RE:Bravo Zulu.....

Hi Mark

Like the others I really appreciate your kindness and thoughtfullness.

You are up for the Bravo Zulu award (Well Done)



Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A... N74BZ ... Flying
 
little boys become big boys....

and you can bet this guy and his buddies will not end up stealing avgas, tagging walls, etc. thanks to this introduction to a world where respect, sharing and caring about others still means something.

A priviledge to be in the company of so many who give so much of themselves.
 
This reminds me of a story told to me by a friend some time ago.
My friend Des was close to retiring from his job as a 747 captain, he related a conversation with a younger regional airline pilot, Aaron. Aaron told how he had visited the flight deck (remember those days?) on a 737 as a young boy and told the captain how he wanted to be a pilot, and how the captain gave him a business card and said to get in touch if he needed help some time. And that he happened to still have that card twentysomething years on. He pulled the card from his pocket and it was Des's card! You never know what you might start with an act of kindness that to you seems small, but to a young kid may be bigger than you ever thought. Well done.
 
Thanks Mark. Every now and then a post really makes my day. Not too often, but this is one of them!
I was that little kid at the airport 50 years ago! I resolve to keep my eyes open for airport kids wherever I go, from now on.

A lump in the throat is good for all of us now and then. Thanks!
 
not only for little boys...

A year to two ago, I was flying into Ruston, LA on my corporate job. I was going to be there a couple of nights and asked on these forums if there were any RV builders in the area. Mark and Zack both responded. Zack works out of town and would not be there, but Mark was and told me to call when I got to town. I did and he took some time off from work to meet me at his house to show me his project. We become friends! Fast forward to last month. I was going to be in Louisiana again, but about 100 miles from him. He and his wife flew down to where my wife and I were to see us and give me a ride in his now completed RV. Incentive rides!!! Last week I was going to be in his town again for corporate flying, but couldn't get in because of weather. He and I were going to meet for lunch, but I had to cancel. This man doesn't just extend the invitation to little boys, but a big one that NEEDED a ride as well. As others have said, Mark, "pay it forward". Y'all have done well!!:) It took me 15 minutes just to read YOUR post to my wife. You've got me all choked up.:eek:
 
The Ride

Mark, I know he will be back for a ride. Please tell us all about it when you take him up.

Gerald (Bulldog)
 
Mark- you may never know how important you are in that young mans life.

Fifty one years ago, I was a twelve year old kid. I walked to the airport and spent what seemed like hours walking around the ramp looking at all the airplanes. I ended up at the wash rack where a man was washing his airplane. I offered to help and he threw me a rag. That morning I found out how much surface area there was on a Stinson 108. After we finished washing, I was hoping for a ride, but to shy to ask. Then he told me we had to dry the airplane. He saw the long look on my face and said- not to worry, drying it was the easy part of washing an airplane. He smiled at me and said that was what the big fan up front was for and told me to hop in. I'll never forget the thrill of watching the ground drop away as we lifted off the runway. That thrill has never gone away.

Over the years I've given fifteen to twenty kids, in similar circumstances to my own, their first rides. It has been my way of paying back the man who was kind enough to give me my first taste of flight.

The most memorable of my "kid flights" was similar to Marks. A mother brought her son, age 9 or 10, to the airport after he had begged "forever" as she put it, to go and look at airplanes. I offered to take him up and she said no. Out of earshot of her son she told me she was a single mother and she didn't trust little airplanes and couldn't get over the thought of something happening to her son. I offered to take her up first and answer any questions she might have. To my surprise she did come back the next day and we had a nice smooth flight. She then asked me if it was alright to go home and get her son. When they returned, she asked if she could also come along. I said of course. She made a point of telling me she was not afraid for her son, she just wanted to go again because she enjoyed the first flight so much. Two for one, mother and son, that day put a big smile on my face.

If you can, give some kid the thrill of a lifetime. Give him or her their first flight. They will never forget the flight or you. I'll never forget the man with the red Stinson, it changed my life.
 
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Challenges of Life

This is O.T., but I had to share it.
I am currently in Abu Dhabi, and it was last night that I read and responded to Mark's post about about "looking through the fence". I awoke this morning to an email from a friend informing me that the wonderful lady that I wrote about last night, passed away yesterday at age 90. I am speechless!
There are a few people that I dedicate my successes not only in aviation, but in life, and she was one of them.:(
While we are having this discussion in an RV forum, it is certainly not specific to those of us that fly RV's. It is important on so many fronts that we always take time to consider all who are "looking through the fence".
 
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I remember that blue Aeronca Champ. I think dad made sure my first ride was in a Champ as he had been a welder on the Champ assembly line. I remember going over the three smoke stacks at Madison, Indiana much lower than was probably legal, even back then. Bump... bump.. bump. At 12 years old, it was the greatest thrill of my life. I remember telling mom. It was probably part of the plan that she hadn't been there. The rest, as they say, is history. I was hooked for life. Give that thrill to as many as you can.

Bob Kelly
 
Someone did it for me when I was about 10. I was hanging out at Clow Airport in Bollingbrook Illinois and got a ride in a Taylorcraft. It was just a two grass strips back then, and it was late summer and I still remember how green the corn looked from a few hundred feet up.

There was a T-6 based there and I'd watch the guy take it up and it would just break my heart that he wouldn't take me with him. Most times the back seat would be empty too.

I first flew into Oshkosh in 1987, and flew out to some small town in Wisconsin for breakfast with a lot of other planes one morning. There were a lot of people from the area that would come out and see the airplanes, and I remember a young family walking up with 3 or 4 kids. they were so excited and were peeking in the open doors of the Cessna 170. So I picked up one of the little ones and plunked him down on the seat and told him to grab the wheel and fly! And he did! Even knew he had to make the engine noises. My wife picked up his sister and put her in on the other side and she helped fly! We swapped them around and put the other two kids in and suddenly we had a line of 10 or 12 kids wanting to sit in the plane. For the next 1/2 hour we worked those kids through the plane and each one had a bigger smile coming out than going in.

That was a great day not because of Oshkosh, but because of touching the hearts of those kids. Nothing beats the feeling I get when I connect with another human being. That's what I think we're all taking about. Connecting with others at a gut level that says "I get it."
 
And Sometimes Not So Young

I was a 20 year old newly-minted Private pilot, waiting to start Navy training, and had just acquired my first airplane, a 1946 Champ. I was determined to learn to land her, and I was doing a million circuits toward that end at Coastal Airport, a beautiful patch of grass just North of PCola.

It was a beautiful early Fall evening, perfectly still, and as I taxied back to go around again, I saw an elderly man standing at the wood fence. He wore a suit, and a hat like a detective from the '30s. A hat like that, in Florida no less. I guess I was just so overwhelmed by the beauty and the fun I was having that I wanted to share it all, and as I neared the fence I gave him the universal hand signal for "Ya wanna go up?".

He took off his coat and folded it, laid in on the grass with his hat on top, and approached the airplane with a gently smile on his face. To my young eyes, he looked ancient, but he got aboard and settled in OK without breaking anything, and when I looked around to make sure he was strapped in, he looked like he was totally at home.

On climb out, I turned to him with a "Take It If You Want To" sign, and he waggled the stick positively as I raised both hands. My little Champ reacted like a fine jumping horse being mounted by a world-class equestrian... the Ball locked into the center and we seemed to be suspended like an ornament on a Christmas tree. As we went around the circuit, I could hardly tell when he moved the controls or throttle, and we arrived exactly on centerline on Final with the nose angled 10 degrees right so he could keep view of the runway. We proceeded over the trees with the airspeed not varying by even half a mile-per-hour, even though he had no view of the ASI, and the landing went like flyingflyingflyingrollingrolling and I thought I had blinked and missed it.

We did several more circuits, then proceeded West toward Bloody Barin to watch the giant red sun sink down. The trip back to the field was an exercise in peacefulness.

I watched as he tied a wing down...a practiced flip through twice and lock, come down and repeat on the free end to keep it from slapping the airplane. He told me about being one of Juan Trippe's early hires, flying Sikorsky Boats out of Dinner Key. When he retired from Pan Am, he had about 26,000 hours in his book. At one time he owned a Reliant, but had not flown much for many years. He was on his way visit family in Pensacola, and when he saw the Champ, he had to leave the highway and chase it down. Still reacting to the lure of the little airport.

He shook my hand in the growing darkness and in that gesture he transferred to me the total joy and thankfulness that was in his heart. As he left to continue his trip, I sat down on the wheel of my fine little Champ joy-giver, and reflected on the amazing power of this little tool, and looked forward to all the adventures that lay ahead.
 
Robert, holy cr@p! Great story! I guess I never thought of older guys hanging out at the fence, watching, waiting...
 
Another touching story. Yeah there should be an Old Eagles program! Heck I might even get a ride in an RV one of these days! :)

Bob
 
Funny you should ask

strahler13 said:
what did the mom look like?
Click to expand...

I got quite a ribbing from my friend Zack who was there. As it turns out the mom was "not ugly" by any means. But, I didn't know that when I made the decision to let the young boy in. I couldn't even tell it was a female behind the wheel of the van at that point.

Somehow I get the feeling no one is going to believe me:confused:
Really guys, that's how it was.
 
Me Too.......

i am also a sucker for families standing behind an airport fence. it usually happens at the smaller uncontrolled airports. the funny thing is that it dosent matter what age the group is. 3 to what ever they all enjoy the aviation interest. i never had them say no to the opportunity to come out to the plane. keep up the good work and try to give the mom a flight too. you never know........... Turbo
 
Little boy

Thanks for making us all remember that little boy.
For me, 45 years ago, my dad paid for a float plane ride in Minnesota. I begged till he gave in. I still watch every plane go by just as I've done every day since. Many a night was spent lying on the hood of my car watching the heavs fly over just out side that fence. Dad didn't get to see me achieve my PPL but I know he was sitting right beside me with a huge smile.
All my grand kids have been up. Now it's time to start checking fences.
I'm sure there's a kid by the fence for all of us. Let's share the joy!
 
wirejock said:
For me, 45 years ago, my dad paid for a float plane ride in Minnesota. I begged till he gave in. I still watch every plane go by just as I've done every day since.
Click to expand...

It wasn't, by any chance, at the city park in Bemidji, was it? That's where I had my first airplane ride at age 5 - in the floatplane - after begging for the chance to get a ride every time we saw them. Hooked for life....:cool:

I was then the kid outside the fence until I was 13 when I was invited in by an FBO who formed an Explorer Post so he had an excuse to let us run around his shop, drink his Cokes, and rebuild his Cubs....

Paul
 
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Old and Young Eagle

We host a fly-in BBQ at our farm strip twice a year. We usually feed everyone at noon and then the mass exodus begins;) After the lunch crowd dies down, we usually pull our airplanes out and give rides to the friends and invited guests that remain after the meal - usually the non-flyers.

Last spring, the weather was windy and generally fairly misurable as flying days go. I gave a few obligatory airplane rides, until I couldn't stand getting beat up by turbulance any more and called it a day and parked the airplane. As I buttoned it all up, an old man and a young boy approached me. The gentleman asked if I could take his grandson for a ride - they had been watching from the truck for a while. I was tired - had cooked BBQ all night and really was done for the day, I didn't know these people, and the weather was not really great - so I said "maybe next time." Which really meant "no, I don't want to." They said OK and thanked me and left.

Fast forward six months to the next BBQ - Again the weather was marginal VFR. I took the RV-9 up in the morning to check out the cloud bases and weather. I landed and got out and walked up the hill from the runway, and there was the same old man and grandson. "Wanted to see if you had time to take him up. We got here early this time." Sure, let's go! Big smiles came across both faces - young and old.

As I was strapping the boy in the airplane, the grandfather leaned in and asked softly if I might take him, when I got back. It was the first airplane ride ever for the 9 year old grandson, and, I got the feeling, for the 70+ year old grandfather, too.

I am so glad they returned after my original "no." I got to come up with the right answer the second time around. Doesn't take much to make a day and maybe change a life.
 
THANKS DAD!

For me it was early. I think I was 4 yrs old, sitting on the phone books to look over the panel of C-150 at Kupper Airport, New Jersey. And now I have the disease of aviation and dreaming of the RV. Soon!
 
interesting...

Ironflight said:
It wasn't, by any chance, at the city park in Bemidji, was it? That's where I had my first airplane ride at age 5 - in the floatplane - after begging for the chance to get a ride every time we saw them. Hooked for life....:cool:
Click to expand...

Of course I can't speak for wirejock, but coincidentally my first airplane ride was also in a floatplane off Lake Bemidji, next to the big blue ox... when I was 5! Must have been more than a few kids begging their dads in those days as they drove along old Highway 2. :)

--Paul
 
That's awesome!

Way to go! I think we all owe it to the youth to introduce them to aviation (with the permission of their parents of course). I've made a promise to myself to go out on a limb to give the kiddos and all the curious ones rides. After all, we love to fly, why not share it with another!
 
And now the sad counterpoint... I've offered rides several times, to kids who obviously were just bustin' to get blue sky under them. And I've been turned down a disappointing number of times by over-protective parents. I see the disappointment on the faces of their offspring and wish I could convey to the parents just how much joy they are robbing from their kids lives. And I wish I could convey to the kids how truly disappointed I am in not being able to share one of life's greatest gifts with them.

As an aside, I wasn't the kid hanging on the fence. Instead I was the kid on a bike who happened to get yelled at by an elderly neighbor. Except he was yelling to ask me to help him. I really had no idea what we were doing, but as it turns out I recognized the finished product, a new canopy for his DHC Chipmunk. The first attempt at blowing the canopy didn't work so well and on yet another fine day I got yelled at again. This time I had a better idea of what to do and I'm sure was actually a help rather than the hinderance I'd probably been the first time around. As it turns out, the second attempt was successful.

A few weeks later on what truly was one of the dog days of summer, this elderly gent again yelled at me. He asked if I'd like to see the finished product. Sure! Off to the airport we went and I got to get up close to his Chipmunk. And then came that fateful question... "Do you wanno go for a ride?" How could I say no when I was already sitting in the back seat!

Mel did a thorough walk-around, explaining as he went, and then he strapped me in far tighter than I thought was necessary, and thankfully on top of some additional seat pads so I could actually see outside. Off we went into the sky. Wow - I couldn't believe everything I could see from up there!

As we flew along he did some turns, and after each one he asked over the intercom how I was doing "back there". I hadn't really noticed that the turns involved more and more bank angle and a bit more G loading. I was having a ball. At one point I made a comment about how much fun I was having and he responded by asking if I'd like to do a roll. Sure! Next thing I knew the blue was below and the green was above and then everything reversed again. He leveled out to perfectly straight, smooth flight and asked again how I was doing. I distinctly remember asking if we could "do that again", and remember hearing him chuckle as he replied. This time it was a slow roll to the right. He did it so gracefully that I could only marvel as the world went around outside the airplane. I don't know how many rolls we did in total, maybe it was only three or four, maybe more. I was simply lost in awe of the beauty and grace of flight.

Time seems to pass very quickly on your first flight, and before I knew it Mel was saying it was time to head for home. You see, he was a wise man and he knew at what time my mother arrived home from work! We tucked the airplane away without saying very much to each other, and again I have to think I was more trouble than I was help in completing that task. As we parted ways after driving back to his house he quietly suggested that maybe it would be best if I didn't tell my mom where I'd been that afternoon, and backed it up with a conspiratorial wink.

I never did tell Mom where I'd been that afternoon, and I never had another opportunity to fly with Mel as he had a stroke that fall and never recovered. To this day I can still hear in my mind the happy chuckle that came from him when I asked to do another roll. He knew he'd set the hook. Thirty-five years later I'm as wonder-struck as I was back then. I've had a wonderful career in aviation and have met some of the finest people on earth through it. My dream is to see another young person experience the same kind of epiphany that I experienced so many years ago.
 
Inspirational!

I feel good about giving my first Young Eagles rides tomorrow! Sunny 66 F here in north central Ohio - awesome!
 
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