On any given Saturday there are a group of men who meet in a small building located at Rock Airport in rural Pennsylvania. They enjoy a meal prepared by one of the members whose turn it is to cook that day. After a quick prayer they all dig in and enjoy the food. The conversations that follow seldom leave the subject of aviation. The fellowship and dedication to flying is what has helped this club survive for decades.
The 61 club members come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Among some of them are Jay Apt who is a former NASA space shuttle pilot and Jim Eaton who at 93 is still an active pilot. Gary Wiant flew helicopters over Vietnam and Frank Bria is an engineer with the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, just to mention a few.
The club was started in 1969 when Frank Bria and fellow pilot Tony Remich didn’t want to leave the airport after a long day of flying. Someone they knew told them where there was a trailer on some property located next to the airport. They went and bought the trailer and the club was started with seven charter members.
In the beginning they were focused on promoting aviation safety. They’d have FAA Safety Seminars where the agency would provide a speaker for the event. In time the seminars became so popular they had to relocate them from their clubhouse to a Holiday Inn. The social events they’ve had over the years to promote aviation are talked about by pilots around the country. The Deer Lakes Pilots club has hosted corn roasts and bonfires. They’ve had breakfasts for people involved in aviation and promoted them at many different airports. It was called a “fly-in” breakfast and attracted pilots, skydivers and others. Some people would literally drop in for the breakfast. What followed was usually a flying and skydiving show for people from around the airport.
One of the many things the club members love to do when they get together is fly their planes. The members have flown to such places as Mexico, Canada and the Bahamas. They’ve even flown up to Alaska and gone 250 south of the article circle. Depending on the destination they may stop at a small city or even camp in the wilderness.
Today the Deer Lakes Pilots Club continues to promote aviation especially to future pilots with something they call the Young Eagles Program. This is a kid's program where some of our members take a few of the kids from their local Junior High School and let them experience flying. The club also sponsors an essay contest on aviation. The contest winner is provided a paid flying lesson. The first winner of their contest went on to attend the Air Force Academy.
If you enjoyed reading this article click on “SUBSCRIBE” at the top of the page to automatically receive all future stories.
Comments