WHITE LAKE, NY — A dog named Buddy is usually Kevin Lechner’s co-pilot when he takes to the skies in his 65-year-old airplane, a 1959 Piper Comanche.

But on Monday, July 22, four Scouts from the Ten Mile River (TMR) Scout Camps took to the skies over rural Sullivan County with Lechner at the stick. Instead of wings, the Scouts were in search of an Aviation Merit Badge. 

According to Scouting America, there are currently 138 merit badges. “Enhancing our youths’ competitive edge through merit badges,” the organization says.

During the week of July 22-26, the Scouts met in the pilot’s lounge at the Sullivan County International Airport. As part of their orientation to flight, they learned the basics of pre-flight inspection of a light aircraft, how to read an aeronautical chart, the functions of the instruments found in a typical single-engine aircraft—and they got a bit of airtime in the old Piper Comanche. 

The first-ever locally offered merit badge program was a joint effort between the airport, TMR, K.L. Enterprises/Kevin Lechner and the Sullivan County Government, which chipped in to help with permit fees and fuel.

“I am thrilled so many organizations and people came together to make this exciting program happen,” said  

Scott Dellosso, camp director of TMR’s Camp Keowa. He added of pilot Lechner, “He is the heart and soul of the program.”

Dellosso said that after learning that the airport’s superintendent went to Ten Mile River as a youth, the camp director knew the idea of offering an aviation merit badge would get off the ground. That Lechner grew up as a Scout and now has a daughter in Scouting really gave it wings.

“Giving Scouts the opportunity to earn their aviation merit badge and get an observation flight over our camp is just another example of how Scouting America molds our youth into the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.

TMR is a several-thousand-acre spot located outside Narrowsburg. It was founded as the result of efforts by the New York City Boy Scout Foundation beginning in 1924. 

Led by future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the group acquired the land and raised capital to start construction.

In recognition of his efforts, in the summer of 1933 then-President Roosevelt returned to the camp to be inducted into the Order of the Arrow.

As part of the Greater New York Council (GNYC) of Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America), TMR has seen Scouts rise to worldwide prominence: Charles Camarda, an astronaut; Eugene Calvin Cheatham, a Jr. Eagle Scout and Tuskegee Airman; Jay M. Cohen, an Eagle Scout and Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy; James P. Gordon, an Eagle Scout and physicist known for work in the fields of optics and quantum electronics; Earl G. Graves, Sr., a publisher, philanthropist and advocate of Black businesses; and Johannes Knoops, an Eagle Scout, Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture and noted educator.

Lechner was a Scout from 1986 to 1999, and today serves as a den leader and committee member, watching over his daughter and other youngsters in Pack 101 of Rock Hill.

In addition, the local entrepreneur is a merit badge counselor for Scouts seeking to earn merit badges in numerous fields, such as aviation, electricity, welding, engineering, drafting, composite materials, plumbing and fishing.

“I love teaching flying and giving them the joy of flying,” said the private pilot. As a Scout, he earned an aviation merit badge.

“To take people up to experience flight is awesome, and to feel the weightlessness, the positive and negative g’s, to watch their reactions,” makes taking Scouts up in the air for their first ride in a private plane makes it all worthwhile, Lechner said.

After returning to earth, a couple of the Scouts shared their reactions to flying in a private single-engine aircraft for the first time. 

“It was very interesting; I got to sit at the controls and experience the positive and negative g-forces,” said Silas Gopal of Troop 501. He said that in the future, he hopes to become a commercial pilot.

Moxie Cheng of Troop 681 said that in the future he would like to work with a space agency such as NASA. Of his time aloft, he added, “It was really good; I got to see a lot of the environment.”

While taking the Scouts up in his aircraft to get a birds-eye view of the land and a first-hand feel for the effects of gravity—we’re talking experiencing positive and negative g-forces—Buddy, Lechner’s co-pilot, waited less than patiently in the pilot’s lounge until his master returned to earth.