Young Eagles at EAA Chapter 461

Date change for our October rally:

  • We will host our Young Eagles rally on October 5th (not October 12th) because we will be at EAA HQ in Oshkosh, WI supporting Space Day at the EAA Museum on October 12th.

Next rally dates:

  • October 5
  • April 2025

How to register:

Registration for our October 5th Young Eagles rally will be open from Monday September 30 till Wednesday October 3.

If you would like to register, please fill out this form:
Request Form for Young Eagles rally October 5th
no later than 11:59 pm CDT on Wednesday, October 3, 2024

If you want to register multiple kids, fill out the form multiple times – one form per child.

Information for participants:

A Go/No-Go decision will be made the night prior to the event (Friday, around 7pm). If you don’t receive a Go/No-Go email please check event status before heading to the airport! It will be posted on:

Please note: In case of unfavorable weather, rallies are typically rescheduled for the following Saturday; however, there are exceptions and we encourage you to seek additional information from one of the sources listed above.

### IMPORTANT MESSAGE CONCERNING REGISTRATION ###

Our Young Eagles (YE) program is operated by volunteer ground crew, pilots, and aircraft owners who donate their time, skills, and aircraft (fuel, insurance, maintenance, storage) to make YE flights possible. Of the various resources required to run a successful event (people, location, & aircraft), the most challenging aspect of the YE program is sourcing pilots and aircraft to support flight operations.

Now, as you might imagine, summer is a time when aircraft owners are trying to obtain maximum utility from their aircraft. In other words, they’re using their airplanes to go places and do things. Understandably, this makes the sourcing of YE pilots and aircraft even more challenging. The combination of incredibly high demand for YE flights, limited pilots and aircraft, and ongoing technical challenges with the YoungEaglesDay.org (YE Day) website have put both Chapter 461 and YE participants in a tricky position.

As many of you know, our rallies are often completely booked less than 2 minutes after registration opens. What you may not know is that not only are those rallies booked solid, they are also “oversubscribed” by 75-100% due to limitations of the YE Day website. For example, Chapter 461 opened slots for 30 flights in June 2024, and YE Day permitted 52 registrations. We do our best to accommodate the unplanned overages; however, as mentioned earlier, pilots and aircraft are limited. In the interest of managing resources and expectations, Chapter 461 is thus creating a new Young Eagles registration process to help maximize our capability while minimizing frustration.

We kindly ask those interested in our Young Eagles rally to send us a YE flight request via email.

Overview of the Program:

The EAA Young Eagles program was started in 1992 to give interested young people, ages 8 – 17, an opportunity to experience the joy of flight in a general aviation airplane. These flights are offered free of charge and are made possible through the generosity of EAA member volunteers.  Since 1992 more than 2 million Young Eagles have enjoyed a flight through the program, from 90 different countries, having been flown by more than 42,000 volunteer pilots.

EAA maintains an online Young Eagles logbook here: Young Eagles Logbook

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who qualifies for the Young Eagles flights?

Children ages 8-17. They can participate in Young Eagles rallies and fly more than once.

When is your next Young Eagles rally?

Our chapter hosts Young Eagles rallies April through October on the second Saturday of each month (weather permitting).
We start at 9:00 am and fly until 12:00 pm.

When does registration open?

We open the registration on Wednesday prior to the event, at 8pm.
The link will be posted on this website and our Facebook page.
Due to a high demand we don’t have an ability to accommodate walk-ins.

What’s the address of the airport?

We are located at the Bolingbrook’s Clow International Airport.
Address: 118 S. Clow Intn’l Parkway, Bolingbrook, IL 60490
Park at the parking lot next to Charlie’s restaurant and walk towards the Illinois Aviation Museum.

How can I find out if the flight is cancelled due to weather?

We send out emails to all registered participants; however, emails sometimes fail to deliver.
We strongly recommend checking our website and our Facebook page before heading to the airport. We make a GO/NO-GO decision around 6pm the night before the event.

We try to post as soon as possible the status of the event whenever it changes. This would include rescheduling, cancellation, delays, and so on.  Due to the accuracy (or the lack thereof) of weather forecasts, the variation in local weather conditions, and conditions specific to Clow Airport, we try not to make these decisions very far in advance.  We try our best to avoid disappointments; however, safety is always our primary concern, followed closely by the comfort and enjoyment of our Young Eagles passengers.

How many passengers are permitted on a flight?

The number of passengers depends on the size of the airplane. Some pilots fly 2-seat airplanes, which means they can take only one passenger at a time. Some pilots fly 4-seat airplanes, which means they can take up to three passengers at a time. The maximum number of Young Eagles per flight is three.

What aircraft will be used?

Our Chapter members own and fly a wide variety of aircraft.  There is no guarantee that any specific plane will be available at any specific event.  The aircraft range from 2 to 6 seats. Almost all aircraft have single engines; however, on occasion there may be a twin engine aircraft flying.

Is a parent required to be present at the event?

Absolutely! The parent (or legal guardian) must sign a waiver at the event. Due to legal and insurance constraints, we cannot allow grandparents/extended family or friends sign the waiver. A parent must be physically present at the event.

Would a parent be permitted to fly along?

Only as an exception on very rare occasions, such as when a Special Needs child requires the accompaniment of his/her care giver.  We have found that most children benefit the most when not accompanied by another adult and the pilot can concentrate on the Young Eagle(s).

More information about Young Eagles on EAA website 

If you have any further questions, please contact our Young Eagles Coordinator