Harrison Ford, Jay Leno Talk Young Eagles on `Tonight Show'

Actor, pilot and EAA member Harrison Ford, chairman of EAA's Young Eagles Program, provided some great national exposure for Young Eagles on Tuesday night (Jan. 31) during his appearance on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Ford discussed his involvement with the program, both as its chairman and as an active participant who provides young people with their first flight experience in a general aviation aircraft.

"I'm working with EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, who sponsor a program called Young Eagles," he told Leno.

"We take kids who have never been in a general aviation airplane and take them up in private airplanes to give them a sense that this is something that they might be able to do." 

Leno wondered if the kids were excited to fly, asking, "Is it like seeing Santa Claus for the first time, do the eyes just light up?"  

Ford replied, "A lot of them do, it's really exciting for a lot of them, and it's really exciting for us as pilots to be able to turn kids onto the thing that we love so much." 

Ford has served as Young Eagles chairman since March 2004 and, during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005, accepted an invitation to serve in that role for two more years. He'll again participate at the AirVenture gathering this summer.

Ford's latest movie, Firewall, opens nationwide on Friday, February 9. 

FMI: www.eaa.org