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I read with interest the article on the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Young Eagles program providing flights to 8- to 17-year-olds. I received a flight at the Albert Lea airport back in the 1950s at a cost of a penny a pound and a total cost of under a dollar. It was a dollar well invested as I went on to Navy flight training, flying off aircraft carriers for 20 years, then another 18 years with United Airlines, mostly flying the Boeing 747-400 and retiring as a captain out of Chicago O’Hare on the Boeing 757 and 767. Over those many years I’ve had the opportunity to be a flight instructor to multitudes of students in the Navy, and have taken youngsters flying to introduce them to aviation. I encourage all those eligible to take advantage of this life changing opportunity.

Barry Allen
captain
United Airlines
Commander
US Navy (retired)