POLSON — Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Well, it was both... kind of. On Saturday, participants in the Young Eagles program congregated at the Polson airport for an opportunity to hitch a ride with area pilots and observe firsthand how operating an aircraft works.

Anxiously awaiting their turn to fly, eight-year-old Taylor Bennett of Polson was joined on the runway by his friend, Jesse Mick, who was visiting from Boise, Idaho. For the two intrepid youths, the day’s adventure would be their first taste of flying.

“I’m kind of scared but really excited,” Bennett said in anticipation of liftoff.

Mick shared Bennett’s mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement, though his fear might have run a little deeper.

“I will scream,” Mick admitted.

The pair of first-time fliers weren’t alone, as a number of the 26 kids whisked into the skies on Saturday were getting their introduction to aviation. At previous events throughout the Mission Valley, the Young Eagles program has sent up another 197 kids so far this year.

“It’s the biggest number we’ve ever flown in a year,” volunteer Bud Radtke says of this year’s unprecedented level of participation.

According to Radtke, making flight more accessible to kids is the mission of the Young Eagles program.

“Especially in our area, [they] might not fly otherwise,” Radtke explains.

“The real joy is seeing kids getting on the plane with a lot of trepidation and a look like, ‘What am I getting into here?’ And when they get back you can’t wipe the smile off their face,” said Radtke with a laugh.

Besides thrills, Young Eagle passengers are also given a logbook intended to record future flights that they shadow. Prior to boarding their flights, they were also given instruction regarding the key tenets of flying safety.

Of course, the exciting and educational experience would not be possible without the generosity of volunteers on the ground and in the air.

Bobby Radtke, who works in Helena for the Federal Aviation Administration, said that, “the big volunteers are the pilots. They volunteer their time, planes and gas and bear the burden of the expense.”

On Saturday, the local pilots sharing their planes and expertise were Trey Moran and Carmine Mowbray, who spent the morning shuttling groups of kids into the sky for aerial tours of the valley.

At long last, Bennett’s wait was over, when he and sisters Kisa and Amber Hanneman, both of Finley Point, hopped in the cabin of Moran’s Cessna. None of the crew had flown before.

On deck were Polson residents Trai Toney, 16, and Rachel Morison, 14, patiently waiting for Mowbray to give them the green light.

Toney said that he had some previous experience in Cessnas, though never with the Young Eagles, while Morison reported that this would be her “first time in a plane like this.” After climbing aboard Mowbray’s Cessna 182 and buckling in, it was a relief to hear that the hardest task had already been completed.

“The seatbelt is the most complicated part of flying,” Mowbray said in congratulations.

Mowbray manuevered the plane with pedals at her feet as the aircraft taxied away from the hangar, before accelerating along the length of the runway. Soon, the Cessna, which Mowbray says uses gas at about the same rate as a pickup truck, lifted from the ground and reached its flying speed of 138 mph.

On calm days such as this, “the plane practically flies itself” Mowbray assured her wide-eyed crew as the plane settled in at a cruising altitude of about 1,500 feet. After circling Polson Bay and taking in views of Kerr Dam, downtown Polson, Finley Point, Rocky Point and other area landmarks visible in the distance, Toney and Morison touched back down to the ground with stories to tell.

“It’s awesome being in the air… In the Cessnas, you can almost feel the air going by,” Toney said.

“Flying over the river was the coolest part,” Morison added.

Moran’s crew was also lingering back at the landing strip, still abuzz with their own tales from the sky.

Kisa Hanneman, who had gotten a bird’s eye view of her own home during the flight, said that she was “just in awe” of the experience.

Those reactions are exactly what keep pilots like Mowbray coming back time and again.

“I love to see these kids jump out of planes with giant grins on their faces,” Mowbray said.