By Sherry Niederkorn, EAA Lifetime 1277308
The EAA Chapter 5 Summer Youth Aviation Camp 2025 is officially in the logbook and on record for “reaching the sky” with this opportunity! This year’s camp, specially designed for kids in grades 7-10 with a real interest in aviation, was deemed a tremendous success!
The summer camp was held at the Geauga County Airport (7G8) in hangar 3 from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on July 7-11. Students actively participated in learning about aerodynamics, parts of an airplane, flight operations, careers in aviation; developed skills in map reading, riveting, woodworking and building; and were given opportunities to tour the airport facilities, build a drone, and to “fly” on flight simulators in the flight simulator lab. Opportunities for scientific experimentation were provided through the STEM-based curriculum, particularly in the NASA lunar landing project and the balloon car races. Mother Nature also allowed for an RC demo on Monday, a touch-and-go demonstration on Tuesday, and a tow plane/glider demonstration on Thursday. There were daily activities such as glider flying contests, as well as other fun recreational activities.
Space for the camp was limited to 18 students to allow for more hands-on opportunities. More than 30 chapter members served as the volunteer staff, including four returning SYAC alumni who had asked to assist with this year’s set of campers. The volunteer staff members served as instructors to guide the students in six sessions each day (ground school, building, learning modules, flight simulators, engines and activity period) under the coordination of camp administrator Sherry Niederkorn. Campers were divided into three groups of six and rotated through three sessions in the morning and three sessions after lunch. At the end of each day, campers listened to presentations by a different career day speaker from various aspects of aviation.
When the camp was over, the campers were given a one-on-one Young Eagles flight with a volunteer pilot where they were able to apply all the information they had gained during the camp week. Practicing on the flight simulators comes in handy, although several campers stated that “it is a lot easier to fly the actual airplane than the simulators. You can FEEL the difference, because you get feedback from the controls of the airplane.”
Campers came to the EAA Chapter 5 camp from many locations, including Lake, Cuyahoga, Trumbull, Medina, and Geauga counties. Two campers flew in from Houston, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, to attend this unique camp. This is the sixth camp held by the chapter since 2019.
The dates for SYAC 2026 will be July 6-10, 2026. Information about next year’s camp is available on the EAA Chapter 5 website at EAA5.org. Visit the website in March to download the 2026 application. The camp will be open to a maximum of 18 new campers only.
You can see a highlights video from a previous Summer Youth Aviation Camp here. For more information, contact Sherry Niederkorn at (440)-477-1198 or sherry.niederkorn23@gmail.com