DANVILLE — A handful of small aircraft lined the tarmac at Hendricks County Airport-Gordon Graham Field over the weekend for the seventh annual Hendricks County Airport open house.
Recreational pilots from throughout the county and state flew their planes to Gordon Graham field to allow residents a behind the scenes look at how they operate.
“It’s really a person’s first flight lesson,” said Joe Sims with Hendricks County Aviation (HCA). “It’s intended to introduce a person to flying.”
The open house included tours of the airport, question and answer sessions with pilots, and abbreviated flight lessons called discovery flights. Discovery flights allow visitors to the airport to fly basic maneuvers with a licensed pilot and enjoy sightseeing from the air.
HCA operates the state’s newest Cessna Pilot Center, which offers flight training and aircraft rentals.
“You just sit back and let the machine do the work,” said visiting pilot Robert Grubb.
Grubb, a Fountaintown resident, flew his Cessna Skyhawk in from the Crawfordsville area. He’s been a licensed recreational pilot since 1995. He participates in the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) Young Eagles, a program that gives youth interested in flight a chance to fly.
“This is just fun,” Grubb said of his involvement in EAA and years of flying. “It’s not uncommon to get people who are stopping by just to check out the planes and they go up and fall in love.”
Like Avon resident Brady Burke. Burke reached two milestones this summer. He graduated from Avon High School last month and received his private pilot’s license just over a week ago.
“There’s nothing in the world quite like it,” Burke said of flying. Just one day after receiving his license, Burke took his first solo flight to Greenfield with his girlfriend. Burke says he feels completely at ease flying alone and even plans on flying his parents to their vacation spot next week.
“I feel safer in that plane by myself than I do in my Chevy Blazer on U.S. 36,” he said.
Burke will head to Purdue University this fall to study professional flight technology.
“I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do with my time,” he said. “It’s a great industry to get into because once you get into it, you’re hooked.”
Burke’s sentiment on flight is what organizers of the open house hope all visitors walk away with it.
For more information about the flight school, aircraft rental, and general information, visit the airport’s website at www.flyhca.com.
courtney.essett@flyergroup.com
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