Weather holds, Anoka is a great success
By Julie Summers Walker
The weather sounded like it could be bad—high winds and storms were forecast—but Anoka County-Blaine Airport stayed warm and breezy all day August 22, delighting visitors, especially those who chose to camp under the Minnesota summer skies.
AOPA’s third 2015 fly-in was a resounding success even though initial attendee numbers were low and the forecast was iffy. Minnesota, it seems, is a laid-back kind of place and people take their time to consider their plans for the day.
Those who flew or drove in Friday were truly the lucky ones. The camping was in a perfect setting at the airport, and the evening entertainment included a Barnstormers Party at a nearby seaplane base. Surfside Seaplane Base and Wipaire hosted the event, which featured the throaty roar of seaplanes taking off and landing, music by the Front Porch Sitting Liquor Pigs, and great barbecue. As the sun set, campfires were lit, torches were set, and friends new and old swapped flying stories.
Southern sizzle
Don’t miss our final fly-in of 2015
By Jill W. Tallman
October 10is your last chance to attend an AOPA regional fly-in in 2015, and our host airport—Tullahoma Regional/William Northern Field (THA)—is ready to show you a great time.
Airport Manager Jon Glass may be joking when he says he’s ordered temperatures in the 80s and clear skies for the day, but he’s absolutely serious when he says the aviation community is thrilled to welcome AOPA members to experience all that Tullahoma has to offer. The airport itself is a grass-roots aviator’s dream destination, with two paved and two turf runways. THA is west of the Smoky Mountains and lies in the center of a triangle formed by the cities of Nashville, Chattanooga, and Huntsville, Alabama.
Arrive early and treat yourself to one of two excursions on Friday, October 9: an insider’s tour of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s world-famous engine test facility at Arnold Air Force Base, or a lively visit to the Jack Daniel Distillery (free shuttle buses will be provided). That night, the Barnstormers Party brings you barbecue and live music from Paul Leim, one of music’s preeminent drummers and an enthusiastic private pilot.
On Saturday, take in the educational seminars and exhibits, and join AOPA Mark Baker for a Pilot Town Hall on the issues you care about most: third class medical reform, ADS-B, and more. The outstanding Beechcraft Heritage Museum will move several of its treasured aircraft outside for the day so that attendees can browse exhibits or attend education seminars inside the museum. In the afternoon, Greg Koontz will take to the skies for a thrilling aerobatic display.
And, because no fly-in would be complete without food, there will be a pancake breakfast; lunch available from a selection of gourmet food trucks; and a free ice cream social sponsored by Sporty’s Pilot Shop.
Email [email protected].
AOPA’s next Fly-In is October 10 at Tullahoma Airport in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
2015 AOPA Fly-Ins
Salinas Municipal Airport
(SNS)—May 16, 2015
Frederick Municipal Airport
(FDK)—june 6, 2015
Anoka County-Blaine Airport
(ANE)—August 22, 2015
Colorado Springs Municipal Airport
(COS)—september 26, 2015
Tullahoma Regional Airport
(THA)—October 10, 2015
Fly-Outs
Beech paradise
Celebrating majestic airplanes in Tennessee
By Jill W. Tallman
The first thing you’ll see when entering the Beechcraft Heritage Museum at Tullahoma Regional/William Northern Field is a blindingly beautiful Beechcraft D17—the very first D17, in fact. You’ll want to linger while you take in the majesty of Big Red. Few designs are as instantly recognizable as the Staggerwing.
Big Red’s antecedent, the Travel Air, waits patiently for your attention in the main hangar, along with many other meticulously preserved examples of the legacy of Walter and Olive Ann Beech, founders of Beech Aircraft Co.
“They were literally the power couple” of aviation, said Wade D. McNabb, chief executive officer and curator of the museum. “His head was in the clouds; her feet were on the ground.” Walter was the engineer and the salesman; Olive Ann attended to the logistics of running an airplane manufacturing company—a role she maintained long after her husband’s death in 1950.
Olive Ann Beech initially did not approve of the notion of a museum; she believed such things are usually the provenance of men with “big ideas and small pockets,” McNabb said. To mollify her, the museum pledged never to take money from the Beech family or the company itself. “But you would be amazed at what turns up,” McNabb said, referring to donations that provide a fascinating glimpse of aviation manufacturing—a Staggerwing wind tunnel test model; an entire wall of beautifully colored schematics based on the originals that came from the foreman of the paint shop in Beech Field in Wichita; a sign from the factory that reads “Main Entrance For Important People: Builders of the Finest Single Engine and Light Twin Airplanes in the World.”
A second hangar adjacent to the main building is devoted to the Bonanza, Baron, Debonair, Duke, T–34 Mentor, and Twin Beech. Here you’ll also find a Starship and a puzzling creation known as the Cianchette Lionheart, which turns out to be a composite kit version of the Staggerwing with cantilever wings and a longer cabin—an earnest copy, but certainly not the real thing.
By the way, the museum is always looking for certain Beech models. Perhaps you have a hangar queen that would be at home amongst her royal relatives?
Email [email protected]
Fly-outs made possible by Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Open Tuesday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., March through November. Open by appointment December through February.
Getting there: Fly into Tullahoma Regional Airport/William Northern Field (THA). Aircraft parking is available fewer than 100 yards from the museum.
AOPA Fly-In takes place at Tullahoma Regional Airport (THA) on October 10. RSVP online
Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. The sun was an orange orb over the airport as the first attendees arrived for their pancake breakfasts. Pancake breakfasts were prepared by some of the more than 190 volunteers—including AOPA President Mark Baker’s wife, Vicki; their children; and friends. This, after all, is the Bakers’ home airport. Baker and his friend Greg Herrick, founder of the Golden Wings Flying Museum—where much of the day’s events took place—entertained breakfast goers with stories about the aircraft in Herrick’s remarkable collection.
The day’s events were marked by a comfortable camaraderie as young and old strolled along the airport grounds enjoying the aircraft—from a giant Albatross to the EAA One Week Wonder.
“I was born and raised here,” Baker said of Minnesota, and that returning home for an AOPA Fly-In was special for him. “The people I have talked to have all had a great time.”
“I think it was a great success,” added Herrick. “I heard positive comments all day. AOPA did a really good job.”
By the numbers
2,713 Attendees
161 Aircraft
1,050 Lunches served
45 Display aircraft 54 Exhibitors
750 Breakfasts served
600 Barnstormers Party
130 Rusty Pilots
Video Extra: See the fun in Anokain this online video.
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