Decade of Helping 1,000 Texas Children Take Flight Earns Jim Quinn The 2010 Phillips 66® Aviation Leadership Award
/A decade ago, recreational pilot Jim Quinn seized a chance to revive a Young Eagles program in Dallas and make it easier for volunteer pilots to bring the wonders of flight to Texas children. Since then, more than 1,000 kids have gone flying in single-engine and homebuilt aircraft, thanks to Quinn and the volunteers from EAA Chapter 168.
For his foresight and guidance, Quinn was honored at one of the world’s largest aviation events, AirVenture Oshkosh, where he earned the prestigious 2010 Phillips 66® Aviation Leadership Award during a special ceremony.
‘Miracle on the Hudson’ First Officer Jeff Skiles joined Quinn for the Leadership honor, along with Rod Palmer, Manager General Aviation, ConocoPhillips, and Andy Viens, President Global Marketing, ConocoPhillips.
“Jim Quinn is a special individual, one who worked tirelessly for a decade to bring the excitement of general aviation to more than 1,000 youths,” said Rod Palmer, General Manager Aviation, ConocoPhillips. “Each year the annual award recognizes leadership that makes a difference in the Young Eagles program. Jim’s leadership in his role as Young Eagles Coordinator produced significant, measured results for his EAA chapter.”
When Quinn became Volunteer Coordinator for his EAA chapter he saw the stress the traditional large-scale, all-day Young Eagle flight rallies inflicted on ground volunteers, pilots, the youngsters and their parents. And the Texas heat didn’t help either. So Quinn challenged tradition, shifting to smaller events, and more of them, with smaller groups of children.
“The idea worked like a charm,” said Michael Stephan, board member for EAA Chapter 168. “The new structure revived our Young Eagles program and brought volunteers back.”
Quinn shrugged off the praise and said it was a team effort.
“It takes a lot of moving parts to make this work, and I am sort of the band conductor,” he said.
“Jim goes the extra mile,” Stephan said. “Jim has been at every event in the last 10 years leading the group.”
Quinn – who flies a sleek, wood-framed Sequoia Falco – said the small groups meant more quality flying time for the youths.
“They usually get some stick time actually flying the plane, so they come back really excited,” he said. “For the most part, it’s the first time these kids have been in a small plane, let alone any airplane.”
What excites Quinn, though, is organizing flying time for children who might be missing something in their lives. That, he said, was most rewarding.
It took a mountain of military paperwork to pull off Young Eagles flights for children of deployed serviceman and woman at Fort Worth’s Joint Reserve Base, which Quinn said was special. And every year he helps inner city girls take flight through SMAART, a South Dallas non-profit dedicated to the enrichment of nine- to 12 –year-olds.
“Flying is something totally alien to their experience,” Quinn said. “They come back with a whole different perspective when they see the ground from a different viewpoint.”
“Jim is committed to enhancing safety at towered airports,” Palmer said. “He works with the tower to assign call signs and unique squawk codes for each airplane, distinguishing these flights from other traffic.”
The kids lucky enough to fly with Young Eagles Chapter 168 get to soar in a lot of planes built by the volunteers themselves. Quinn said most of flights were in homebuilt aircraft.
“They look pretty sexy next to the Cessnas, so the kids really have a desire to be selected for a ride in one of the homebuilts,” Quinn said.
For its part, Phillips 66 has long support EAA’s Young Eagles program, offering pilots $1 rebate for every gallon of avgas purchased for the rallies with a Phillips 66 Aviation personal card. Its Aviation Leadership award was designed to encourage more recognition for Young Eagles and the volunteers who make the program happen. Of the 1.5 million youths who have gone up in Young Eagles flights, some 400,000 have gone airborne with pilots who’ve used the Phillips 66 Aviation rebate.
“These rallies take a lot of time, but it’s worth it, both for the kids and for the future of aviation,” Quinn said. “I tell everybody there are three variables I have no control over – the weather, pilots and the kids. It’s like juggling balls and hoping everything comes together.”
Facing hundreds of audience members at what is arguably general aviation’s premier event, Quinn’s decade of “juggling” paid off as he shared the limelight with another famous aviator, Young Eagles Co-chair Jeff Skiles, who nodded in appreciation as Phillips 66 recognized volunteer leadership and its role nurturing the future of aviation.