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News & Media Battle Creek Bash

Battle Creek Bash

AOPA’s third fly-in of the year conquered the weather

September 17, 2016 By Thomas A. Horne

Maybe it’s because pilots are accustomed to dealing with weather. Maybe it’s because the events and attractions at AOPA’s Regional Fly-Ins resonate so well with local populations. Whatever the reason, AOPA’s Battle Creek Fly-In at Michigan’s W. K. Kellogg Airport overcame a bout with early morning rain showers Sept. 17 and gave its estimated 1,960 attendees a great weekend.

Rain simply doesn’t deter AOPA Fly-In visitors, and that’s a proven fact. In all, an estimated 172 airplanes flew in, including 35 airplanes that took their places in the static display. In the exhibitors hall 42 companies were set up to sell their wares. In addition, some 450 people went to the popular Friday night Barnstormers Party—and let’s not forget another 20 campers who braved the elements over Friday night and Saturday morning.

Highlighting the static display were a wide variety of airplanes, ranging from the B-25D Yankee Warrior of the Willow Run, Michigan, airport; to a 1959 Cessna 175 Skylark owned by the local Hangar 20 Flying Club; to a rare, fully restored 1964 Comanche 400. Of course, the Waco Classic Aircraft Co.—based at Kellogg Field—also had a fleet of brand-new Waco YMF-5s on the ramp, as well as its Great Lakes by Waco biplane. Textron Aviation brought a new G58 Baron, Cessna 182, and Cessna Caravan to the show; Pilatus had its new PC-12NG; Eclipse its Eclipse SE demonstrator (on loan from the Veterans Airlift Command); Mooney its new Ovation; and even an Aero Vodochody L-29 Delphin was on site. The Recreational Aviation Foundation brought a Piper Cherokee, and Paradise Bound Ministries its Peterson-modified Cessna 182, complete with cowl-mounted canard and 300-horsepower engine. On Nov. 19, Paradise Bound will award a trip for two in the 182 to Guatemala, where it has a mission.

The pilot seminars, always a hit, were well attended, with the Rusty Pilots Seminar taking the cake with a full house at the You Can Fly pavilion. Big crowds also flocked to AOPA Air Safety Institute Senior Vice President George Perry’s “Mind over Matter” safety talk at the main stage tent, as well as Adrian Eichhorn’s seminar on night flying, to name just two. AOPA President Mark Baker finished the fly-in with a roundup of the latest details of the victorious new third class medical reform initiative, as well as AOPA’s many efforts to spark and renew interest in boosting the general aviation pilot population. Baker, Experimental Aircraft Association CEO and Chairman of the Board Jack Pelton, and AOPA Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs Jim Coon took questions from the audience.

The next AOPA Regional Fly-In is set for Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 at Prescott, Arizona’s Ernest A. Love Field. And if Battle Creek is any indicator, high and dry Prescott should easily hit a high mark in attendance and enthusiasm. So far, 37,460 aviation-minded people have been to AOPA Regional Fly-Ins since they began in 2014. Will we break the 40,000 mark on Oct. 1? Seems like a safe bet, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Thomas A. Horne
Thomas A. Horne
Contributor
Tom Horne worked at AOPA from the early 1980s until he retired from his role as AOPA Pilot editor at large and Turbine Pilot editor in 2023. He began flying in 1975 and has an airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates. He’s flown everything from ultralights to Gulfstreams and ferried numerous piston airplanes across the Atlantic.
Go to Thomas A. Horne's Profile
Topics: AOPA Events, Fly-in

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