Posted by K, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Sep 9, 2010 at 11:30 am

Buzz East Palo Alto Day! cool!

Posted by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Sep 9, 2010 at 12:35 pm

Wear your hard hard and swim suit.

Posted by Jerry, a resident of the Southgate neighborhood, on Sep 9, 2010 at 1:54 pm

PAO is cool! I love to go out there and watch the planes land. I know some people don't like it, but it is real ammenity to our city.

Posted by jardins, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 9, 2010 at 9:54 pm

So it's a done deal--the city of Palo Alto is going to own the airport? At what $$$ cost, may I ask?

Yet another status symbol that costs a lot and does very little for P.A. residents.

Posted by eaa62, a resident of another community, on Sep 9, 2010 at 11:26 pm

The free airplane rides for kids are provided by volunteer pilots of the San Jose Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association under the Young Eagles program (Web Link).

Posted by Enrique I. Moreno, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 10, 2010 at 4:54 am

I strongly object to offering free air rides to kids. Small airplains are fundamentally unsafe; many things can and do go wrong with small airplaines and amateur pilots every day. You hear about the local crashes (like the recent one involving the deceased Tesla Motors employees or the one last week killing three people in Redwood Shores) but you do *not* hear about the hundreds of other crashes in other areas of the country and the thousands in the rest of the world. When you take a child to the free air ride, the child assumes it is safe --because you take him and he trusts you. Please let your child grow up and become an informed adult capable of assessing his or her own risk in flying in a a small airplane. In the meanwhile, do not gamble with their life.

Posted by Sam, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Sep 11, 2010 at 12:55 pm

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by Jerry, a resident of the Southgate neighborhood, on Sep 11, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Enrique,

Yes, there is a risk in putting kids into the air. However, there is a greater risk by leaving them on the ground. It is the difference between two dimensions and three dimensions. That third dimension can liberate a young mind. Two dimensions are not enough, enough of the time. Imagine all the kids who ended up in prison without a third-dimension dream.

PAO is a real joyful resource for Palo Alto.

Posted by Reluctant Siliconer, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Sep 11, 2010 at 8:39 pm

Airport Day sucked. There was loud, obnoxious music blasting from one of the hangars, Born-Again Christian proselytizer/aircraft builders handing out pamphlets to kids without checking with parents first, and no one could figure out how to sign kids up for the purported free rides. It was a waste of time.

Posted by Sara, a member of the Jordan Middle School community, on Sep 11, 2010 at 11:18 pm

I agree with the above poster that Airport Day was a disappointment. Could have done without the loud music. There should have been a host greeting everyone at the door and explaining what was going on. They should not have allowed distribution of religious coins and pamphlets. We arrived at 3:15 and did not see police or fire representatives. They could have had some booth explaining the history of aviation. All the booths had nothing to do with airplanes. Still glad I went; now I know.

Posted by Talk to me, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 12, 2010 at 7:20 pm

You know what they say the snoozers are the losers.

If you had bothered to get there sooner there were plenty of opportunities to go for an airplane ride. The kiddies were getting certificates and t-shiorts. As for the commentator that claims this was unsafe, where is your evidence that this organization has a safety problem?

As for small planes every single professional pilot I know started with the fundaments of flight in a single engine piston aircraft.

No pilots starts out in a Boeing 737.

Posted by Palo Altan, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Sep 12, 2010 at 9:18 pm

@Talk to me: Ads said nothing about getting there early for more goodies so "you snooze, you lose" does not apply to the event. The whole event was poorly run.

Posted by Talk to me, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2010 at 7:24 am

Showing up early is a rule in life. Do you really need an ad to tell you that?

Yes, it could have been run better but truth is this was a mom and pop type event and not some slick corporate produced mega show. Sorry you were disappointed but I saw a lot of happy folks.

Posted by Lived in Minnesota, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2010 at 2:32 pm

The poster, "Talk to me" sounds like a midwesterner. People in the midwest show up to things early (15-20 min. early) and don't expect much. We are used to impressive shows and being late (busier lives, traffic). Our Silicon Valley standards are higher.