THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9510310091
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
HIS FIRST FLIGHT, at age 16, set Russell Page soaring into a lifelong love of flying.
Now, this Wards Corner resident and retired engineer is helping to encourage that love of flying in youngsters by giving free demonstration airplane rides as part of the Experimental Aircraft Association's ``Young Eagles'' program.
The program was created in 1992 to give a million young people a free demonstration airplane ride by the year 2003 - the 100th anniversary of powered flight and the 50th anniversary of the EAA.
In just the past year alone, Page has had 150 children up in his planes, which he flies out of the Hampton Roads Airport on Route 58.
``The good Lord has given me a life that has been relatively free of any tragedy,'' said Page, 69. ``And I have a compulsion to give back. And this is one way that I can do that.''
Of all the children he has had up in his plane, Page said, he hasn't had anyone have a bad experience.
``I fly when the weather is good,'' he said. ``I want to make sure they come back with a good impression. I want to stimulate in them the desire to get them back in a plane.''
The EAA recruits the youngsters through their schools, churches and organizations.
``We'll take anyone up aged 8 to 17,'' he said.
After the flight they get a Polaroid photo and a certificate.
For the past four years, Page has been president of the local EAA, which is made up of individuals from all walks of life who are involved with building planes. The 83 members from all over Hampton Roads include former airline pilots, doctors and lawyers among their ranks.
``Flying has a stigma - that it's expensive and dangerous,'' Page said. ``But I'm not rich. I'm just an engineer. And flying is the safest way to travel.''
As a child, Page used to go to the airport with his father to watch the planes take off and land, and he spent many hours building model airplanes.
When he was 18, he joined the Army Air Corps' aviation training program. It was 1944, and World War II was raging.
``The war was over before I finished my training,'' he said, ``but I accrued 160 hours of flight time, and I got to fly some very sophisticated planes, even by today's standards.''
But after the war, this man who had become one with the sky decided to go back to school to become a dentist.
Whether it was bad luck or fate, the competition for getting into dental school was too tough and Page turned to engineering. He earned a degree in that field from the University of Alabama.
Since then, this western Pennsylvania native has worked in aviation both for the government and private industry. He came to Norfolk in the early '70s to work for the Naval Air Rework Facility and retired from there after 13 years.
He now has three planes, one that he built himself. It's called the Long Easy.
``It's my pride and joy,'' he said.
The Long Easy, which took Page five years to build ``from scratch,'' has flown him over each of the 48 contiguous states. He jokingly calls it the ``Honda of the sky.''
``Being with airplanes is something I love,'' he said. ``I always loved to go to work in the morning.''
But that love is alive and well in retirement.
Retirement and flying are a great match, Page said.
``You can take life a little easier and really enjoy the wonders of the country,'' he said. ``When you fly you see life from a different perspective.
``It's such a wonderful experience. It makes you wonder why people can't focus on the beauty of the country.''
That's why he likes to take kids flying.
``Maybe one day,'' he said, ``they'll feel the same way.'' MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call Vicki Lewis at 446-2286.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Over the past year, Wards Corner resident Russell Page has taken 150
children up in his planes.
by CNB