Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 8, 1995                   TAG: 9505080122
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

200 `EAGLES' FLOCK TO ANNUAL GATHERING OF PILOTS

More than 200 pilots and aviation aficionados met Sunday morning for the 26th annual Gathering of Eagles in Roanoke.

The breakfast is held once a year to give anyone with ties to flying and the Roanoke Valley a chance to get together. Pilots flew in from as far as Cincinnati and Atlanta.

World War II pilots and crew members, commercial pilots, and hobbyists who make their own planes gathered over breakfast for fellowship and a short program at the Holiday Inn-Airport.

"There's a lot of aviation history in the valley," said Chuck Waring, president of the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. "People don't seem to know that."

The association has sponsored the annual Gathering of Eagles for three years. Before that, it was put on by a loose-knit group.

Pilots used to gather over coffee at the old Eagle's Nest restaurant at the airport. The annual breakfast started in 1970 with 25 people and it "just snowballed," said Bill Brightwell, one of eight original members from the first gathering who attended Sunday.

A retired Air Force major who flew B-24s during World War II, Brightwell said get-togethers like Sunday's are popular because with pilots, "they all talk the same language."

The Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 646, has about 30 members and is open to anyone interested in experimental planes - those built by individual craftsmen rather than at a factory.

Next weekend the group will hold a Young Eagles Flight Rally for children ages 8 through 17, in which pilots give kids rides over the Roanoke Valley to introduce children to aviation. The flights are free, but arrangements need to be made through a group such as Scouts or a church organization. The national goal is to give rides to 1 million kids by 2004.

Art Cournoyer, vice president of the Roanoke chapter, said association members who donate their time and aircraft hope to spark interest in aviation in kids who might never have flown. For more information on the Young Eagles program, contact Cournoyer at 389-8407.