June 6, 2008 — As a young boy, Jake Simpson, of Wyandotte, Oklahoma, loved looking at and collecting airplane pictures, and he dreamed of flying planes like the A-10 Warthog.
“My older brother was in the Army,” he says. “I wanted to help him out.”
A Young Eagles flight at age 8 fueled his passion for aviation even more.
The pilot let Jake take the controls, but what he remembers most is the effect of both positive and negative G’s. “I loved the feeling of both,” he says.
Since that flight, Jake has tried to get airborne as much as he can. “I know several pilots and I never failed to ask all of them to take me along anytime they could,” he says. “I love all the free rides.”
But soon he’ll be the one giving the rides. Jake, now 16, says he should have his private pilot certificate by May 2009. He has attended ground school training and is well into his flight training. He also belongs to the Civil Air Patrol in Grove, Oklahoma, where he is a Cadet Sr. Master Sgt.
“The Young Eagle program has provided me…the chance to experience flight,” he says. “But more importantly, it has given me the opportunity to meet and learn from real pilots.”
Although aviation plays a large role in Jake’s activities, his interests are diverse. He holds black belts in two different forms of Tae Kwon Do and he has won three national fiddling contests. He travels the nation playing the fiddle and he plays more than 20 musical instruments.
In addition, he is a Civil War re-enactor, a member of Who's Who Among American High School Students and next year will be a page for the Oklahoma Senate. Jake says he also hunts, goes fishing and “hangs out” with his buddies. “Other than that, I don’t do anything at all.”
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Jake Simpson got a Young Eagles flight at 8. Now 16, he is working on getting his private pilot certificate.
Hear him fiddle
Click here to hear Jake Simpson, then 15, perform with the Byron Berline Band at the Music Hall in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 2007.
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