Youth Soaring Foundation · EAA Chapter 983 · North Texas
Learn. Build. Soar.
We give youth and adults in North Texas a real runway, real gliders, and real aviation mentors. No experience required. Participation is free.
“Anyone willing to show up leaves with their eyes on the sky. That is the only requirement we have.” — Rihkard “Dick” Keyt, Founder · EAA Chapter 983 President
What We Do
Soaring Is the Foundation.
The Sky Is the Classroom.
Glider Flight Training
Our two-seat trainer puts beginners into the cockpit with a certified instructor. From your first tow-line release to solo flight — we walk every student through every step.
Aeronautical Ground School
Understanding lift, drag, weather, and airspace is where safe pilots are built. Our ground sessions make students think like aviators before they ever leave the ground.
Aircraft Restoration
Ray Lewis is leading the restoration of a donated vintage wood-frame sailplane. Students learn real airframe craft through the work — rib by rib, spar by spar.
Youth Development
Every hour spent near an aircraft — airborne or in the hangar — builds focus, spatial reasoning, and real confidence. Aviation is the vehicle. The destination is potential.
Our Aircraft
The Fleet
Every aircraft in our fleet was donated to this mission. We honor that trust in every preflight, every tow, and every landing.
Single-Seat Glider
Solo Training Aircraft
Our primary solo trainer. Students transition here when they’re ready to fly alone — quiet, focused, and entirely in command of a soaring aircraft.
Two-Seat Trainer
Dual Instruction Glider
The workhorse of the program. Every new student begins here, side-by-side with an instructor, learning to read the sky before flying it solo.
Vintage Wood Glider
Ray Lewis Restoration Project
A donated wood-frame sailplane with decades of history worth honoring. Ray is bringing her back airworthy — one spar, one rib, one layer of fabric at a time.
Hangar Glider
Dick Keyt’s Hangar · 0TX1
Donated to the foundation and currently undergoing restoration in Dick’s hangar at Pecan Plantation — suspended from the ceiling where it inspires every visitor who walks in and looks up.
Piper Super Cub
Tow Operations · Cresson Grass Strip
Every soaring flight begins with the Super Cub’s steady climb on the tow line, hauling gliders aloft over the grass strip northeast of Cresson, TX.
Operations at a private grass strip northeast of Cresson, TX — approx. 12 miles from Pecan Plantation (0TX1). Field and hangar access provided by a generous local ranch family.
The Team
The Aviators Behind the Mission
Dick’s hangar at Pecan Plantation holds three aircraft, including a glider suspended from the ceiling. A lifetime in aviation — now pointed at the next generation.
Ray brought a donated vintage wood glider to the program and is leading its complete restoration — teaching craft and airworthiness in equal measure.
Placeholder — add additional EAA 983 founding aviators and volunteers here.
Placeholder — add additional EAA 983 founding aviators and volunteers here.
Voices from the Field
I came to watch one afternoon. Two years later I haven’t found a ceiling yet.— [Youth Participant] · Age [XX]
Something happens when a young person realizes they’re the one keeping the glider airborne. You can see it change them.— [Volunteer Instructor]
We donated the glider because we knew this group would fly it, not store it. We were right.— [Aircraft Donor]
Gratitude
We Don’t Fly This Alone
Every glider in our fleet was donated. Our operations field is gifted by a generous North Texas ranch family. This program grows through the generosity of individuals who believe soaring changes lives — and that young people deserve the chance to find out.
Our Supporters
To be listed as a supporter, contact us. Every contribution — aircraft, land, time, or treasure — is acknowledged here and in our program materials.
Support the Mission
Help Put the Next Kid in a Glider
Our program is free to participants. Every gallon of tow-plane fuel, every maintenance expense, and every operating cost runs on generosity. A contribution of any size keeps this program in the air.
[Foundation Name] is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions may be tax-deductible. EIN: [XX-XXXXXXX]