Young Eagles Pilot Information

Steve Davis

Young Eagles Pilot

If any Young Eagle enjoys flying as much as I do, I truly believe they will have an exciting and bright future in aviation!

I am an instrument rated private pilot, and the owner of a 1996 Piper Cherokee Archer III, tail number N-9276N. “76N” is in great shape, and maintained by Glen Kratz of San Diego Airmotive at Ramona Airport. We have a panel mounted GPS and an autopilot that is useful for long cross-country trips.

My wife (who is taking flying lessons at West Coast Flyers) and I have discovered the pilots and support staff at the Ramona airport to be a great bunch of exciting and interesting folks. Many pilots have a rich history of diverse interests and careers…but, we all have in common the love of flight.

My interest in aircraft and flight began when I was kid in grade school. One hot summer weekend in Oregon, I was mowing the lawn when a pilot in a single engine plane “buzzed” our house at a very low level and waved at me. Only later did I discover how dangerous that maneuver was. But my attention was captured.

After university, I was accepted as a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service, and was subsequently transferred to The White House. I worked for President Jimmy Carter and the President Ronald Reagan, and traveled with the President on Air Force One on many trips in the United States and overseas.

Air Force One was then a Boeing 707, tail number 26000. It flew us thousands of miles…and I frequently got to sit in the cockpit. That is almost as much fun as being the “PIC”, the pilot in command.

Although Air Force One took me higher, faster, and father than my Archer III ever could, I prefer the joy of being the PIC and going where I want and on my own schedule. I hope to share this experience with all of you Young Eagles who have the interest to read this.