Evan Flys
How did this all begin? Well, once upon a time...
Hey, I’m Evan from Evanflys.com. Have you ever wondered how Evanflys.com started? Well, here’s your answer: When I was eight, my dad took me to the Young Eagles program and for the first few times I flew in Cessnas and Beechcrafts, but on my 3rd flight, I got up in a Fleet 16 biplane, which is kind of like a Stearman, and had soooooo much fun! That totally set the hook for me.
After that, my dad and I went to air museums and I had a little notebook that I brought with me, and I would scribble furiously in it describing planes and how they looked. I still have the books!
Soon, when I was nine, my dad and I were taking so many pictures at airshows that we needed a place to put them all. We found out that websites were cheap and easy to maintain, so we thought, “Hmm. Evansoars.com? Evanfloats.com? Evanflys.com!” Soon, I got my first interview with a great friend and airshow performer named Eddie Andreini, and when I started piling up more interviews, Evanflys.com was born!
My dad and I run Evanflys.com purely because we love meeting cool aviators and hearing their stories. When I grow up, I want to become an Air Force Fighter pilot, vintage warbird restorer and test pilot, but if that doesn’t work, I’ll be a photo-journalist.
AFlyer: Evan, What do you like most about aviation, and how would you get young people interested in flying and aviation?
I think that aviation and actually being able to fly is really cool, once you think about it. I really love that feeling you get when you rev up the engine and zoom out down the runway, pulling G's, and once you think about it, flight has only been around for about 106 years, and I want to savor it while I can because I'm still young. I think a good way to get young people like me into flying would be to take them to airshows, build models, and really get involved in it. The Young Eagles probably made the biggest impact on me.
I'm 10 years old now, and I'll turn 11 in August. I started my love of flying when I was eight with Young Eagles and when my dad and I were going to air shows we needed a place to put our pictures so my dad thought, "Well, a website doesn't cost much," and thus, Evanflys.com was born!
When I grow up I want to...
1. Go to the Air Force Academy, join the Air Force, and fly fighters
(Hopefully).
2. Go to the Embry Riddle college, get my A&P, and my degree in Aeronautical Engineering, then join the Air Force, and fly fighters (Hopefully).
3. Go to the Embry Riddle college, get my A&P, and my degree in Aeronautical Engineering, get my pilot's license, then restore vintage warbirds and test fly them like Steve Hinton does from Planes of Fame Air Museum over here in Southern California.
Since I'm 10 years old, I can't get my pilot's license, but I try to do odd jobs around the airport and help friends like Eddie Andreini out with their airplanes. Having media access gets me great opportunities and I've made a lot of neat friends. I also love meeting, and hearing stories from, these cool pilots. I want to solo gliders on my 14th birthday, and solo powered planes on my 16th birthday. Any money I make goes into my "Pilots License Bank Account."
Checkout my web site www.EvanFlys.com and look for my column in the Atlantic Flyer beginning next month.