AOPA Fly-ins: Welcome back

San Marcos is first 2020 fly-in

April 1, 2020 By Julie Summers Walker

Editor's note:

AOPA has postponed its San Marcos and Casper fly-ins. Click here for more details.

This may be our second time around in San Marcos, Texas, but the 2020 season-opener AOPA Fly-In will look nothing like the first.

Fly-outs

See 'That’s All, Brother'

CAF wing will display famous C–47 at San Marcos Fly-In

Pilot Briefing March 2020 Tucked in a hangar at the south end of San Marcos Regional Airport (HYI) is a treasure trove of aviation history. The Central Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force houses one of the most famous aircraft of all time—That’s All, Brother, the C–47 that led the airborne invasion of Normandy, survived World War II, was restored by the CAF, and recently flew back across the pond to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day.

San Marcos was home to a World War II Army Air Forces training base. San Marcos Field was activated on December 15, 1942. The navigation school trained nearly 10,000 students. It was renamed Edward Gary Air Force Base for the first Hays County, Texas, soldier killed in the war. The base was closed in 1963 and in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson—who was a student in San Marcos in his college years—created a Job Corps site on the field.

The Central Texas Wing hangar has other remarkable aircraft such as a T–6 Texan and B–25 Mitchell, Yellow Rose. The five-room museum has an incredible array of aviation and historic artifacts, including navigation equipment from the World War II era. —JSW

Web: http://centraltexaswing.org/

We’ve grown (fly-ins are now two-day events), we’ve expanded (pancake breakfasts each day, two days of workshops and seminars, and more entertainment), and for this show we will be co-locating our event with a high-energy, family-friendly celebration called Go Wheels Up! Texas. This year’s San Marcos Fly-In on May 29 and 30 will serve up everything you’ve come to expect in an AOPA Fly-In, with a heaping side of music, cars, food, and fun.

Cory Morrow’s Go Wheels Up! Texas is an annual event at the San Marcos Regional Airport, combining the country singer/songwriter’s love of music, cars, and aviation. Morrow and his friend Clayton Corn, a Comanche owner and pilot, planned this event to celebrate all the things they love about Texas. There’s a whole concert series both Friday and Saturday featuring music from Morrow and many of his friends, a classic and muscle car show and parade on Saturday, and two afternoons of airshows presented by local aerobatic pilots. The presenters promise there will be a food festival, warbird displays, a best-in-show car competition, and a one-of-a-kind Texas jaw-dropping live stage show.

And while all this excitement is taking place, AOPA will be hosting AOPA members with its time-honored fly-in staples—educational seminars, in-depth workshops, Pilot Town Hall meetings, an aircraft display, exhibit hall, and product demonstrations. We will also present a flightline cookout and STOL invitational as well as a planned night drone show. The two-day Go Wheels Up! Texas event is $52, but AOPA members will receive a 70-percent discount, getting access to everything on both days for just $15. You’ll need to sign up online (aopa.org/fly-ins/hyi) or have your membership information at the gate.

Music, aviation, cars, food, and fun. What more could you ask for?

Web: aopa.org/fly-ins/hyi

Email julie.walker@aopa.org