By Emme Hornung
Since 1992, EAA’s Young Eagles program has been inspiring kids with the taste of flight through a vast network of volunteer pilots. In 2026, we are pushing forward to reach the next big milestone: 2.5 million kids flown by AirVenture 2026 in what we call Mission 2.5.
Seeing a kid’s face light up as the wheels lift off the runway and they see their town from above for the first time is often what makes it worth it for each volunteer pilot, but when a Young Eagles flight inspires another aviator to earn their wings, that’s when the program truly comes full circle.
Josh Goldman, EAA Lifetime 1217665, once a Young Eagle, has come full circle and is returning the favor to the program by inspiring kids just like himself as a volunteer pilot.
Josh enjoyed building airplane models and even attended space camp in his youth, but it wasn’t until a Young Eagles rally organized for his Boy Scouts troop in 1993 that the aviation seed was truly planted. However, like many people experience, aviation had to take a back seat after high school and throughout college. But a few years ago, he saw an ad for a discovery flight at a local flight school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and he decided to reach for that dream.
“I took the discovery flight, and it rekindled that experience I had as a kid. And, luckily, in my 30s, I had time and resources to get back into it,” Josh said. Soon after, he earned his private pilot certificate and joined a local flying club and Civil Air Patrol, flying Cessna 172s and 182s. “I just kept slowly building. I threw on an instrument rating, and I have a commercial rating, but I just do it for fun.”
Josh did all the paperwork and courses required to become a Young Eagles volunteer pilot, but he wasn’t sure how to take the first step. Last summer at an EAA Chapter 1710 barbecue fly-in, he met chapter president Mathieu Labs who told him about a Young Eagles rally that would be happening in two weeks.
Josh was all in. “It was nice to have it all set up as a rally versus trying to go out on my own to find people to fly,” he said. “You don’t need to worry as much; you show up and [the chapter] handles all the scheduling, so it was really smooth. I highly encourage people to find a rally when first getting their feet wet in the program. It’s a great way to do it.”
Josh flew six Young Eagles that day. “The first flight, it was just one kid. I think I was probably more nervous than the kid was,” he said. “There was one group of kids, and [it] just happened that their grandparents’ cabin was right underneath the route we were flying, so I was able to fly them around it and point it out, and that was pretty cool.”
Josh has already signed up for Chapter 1710’s Young Eagles rally in June.
“To me, aviation, it’s seeing the world from a different viewpoint that you just won’t get otherwise,” he said. “I also enjoy the challenge; it gives you something that you can be proud of as you’re doing something the majority of people don’t get the chance to.”
Thanks to volunteer pilots like Josh and chapter volunteers such as at EAA Chapter 1710, our goal of reaching 2.5 million youths flown and building the next generation of aviators is possible. Join the mission today.