California Red Tails fly into Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A group of pilots made a special visit to the Valley on Saturday.

The California Red Tails flew into Fresno Chandler Executive Airport. They're one of 14 Black Pilots of America chapters. The group is named after the African-American fighter pilots who escorted bombers during World War II -- although they're better remembered as the Tuskegee Airmen because they trained in Tuskegee, Ala.

The California Red Tails is a social club, but the members also focus on helping underprivileged teens learn all about the aviation field and the opportunities they may not even know exist.

"Not just piloting, but airframe and power technicians, air traffic control. We introduce them to everything in aviation, and they make a choice on whether they want to do it or not, and then we support them," said California Red Tails President Ron Ellison.

The club does fly-ins once a month at airports across California. The president says he's been doing this for 11 years and has seen 15 of the teenagers he's worked with go on to have careers in aviation.