Young Eagles rallies can be magical for a number of reasons, but a recent EAA Chapter 17 rally at KMNV in Tennessee seemed to have an extra bit of magic for two EAA members.
When the June 2023 issue of EAA Sport Aviation found its way into the hands of young Denver, she was taken by Sparky Barnes’ article, “A Flying Tribute to ‘Rosie the Riveters,’” which details the build of Juliette and Roger Cosh’s RV-14A. This RV, appropriately named Rosie, features an eye-catching, John Stahr-painted tribute to the women who built aircraft during WWII.
“I never really thought about homebuilding or anything. I had never even heard of EAA before I [read Sport Aviation], and anything I can get my hands on, I’ll read from cover to cover,” Denver said. “So when I read the article about Rosie, it was just very inspiring. Juliette building her own aircraft; I had never thought about that, and I thought that could be something I could do in the future. And just reading about women in aviation, it’s very inspiring to me as a young woman hoping to go into aviation.”
In 2023, Denver participated in JAARS’s Vision Flight program. “I flew a Cessna 172. It was amazing,” she said. “The pilot let me have the controls for pretty much the whole flight, and I was hooked. It was amazing, especially seeing our shadow on the ground, I was like, okay, this is really happening. I’m actually in a small aircraft.”
For her 18th birthday, she wanted to experience that same thrill again, so her family looked for local Young Eagles rallies. After missing a couple local opportunities, they found EAA Chapter 17’s rally just a mere 5-hour drive away – a drive that proved to be worth it.
When arriving at the rally, Denver’s eyes landed on a familiar sight: Rosie. “My dad had asked me a question, and I looked over to my right and I just stopped talking, and everybody was like, ‘What is it?’” she said.
“It was funny because when we drove in, Denver looked over and saw Rosie the plane there, and all of a sudden she’s twice as excited as she was to start with,” her dad said. While Denver had gotten a Young Eagles flight with another pilot at the rally, Juliette extended the offer for a flight in Rosie to the clearly star-struck Denver.
“It was pretty surreal,” Denver said. “She was explaining the controls and what she was going to do and the flight path, and I was just sitting there, kind of in awe. I’m actually sitting next to the woman I read about. It was just amazing.”
Juliette herself felt the stars had aligned just right to make this memorable flight happen. “From John Stahr’s artwork, Sparky Barnes’ article in Sport Aviation, and all the steps that followed leading to Denver’s Young Eagles flight. I am sincerely humbled and grateful,” she said.
Denver, having discovered the wonders of flight, hopes to earn her private pilot certificate in the future and is currently working through Sporty’s online courses. EAA, too, is humbled to have been a small part of inspiring this young member’s path into aviation and staying true to our goal of encouraging the next generation of aviators.