Smithsonian hosts GA fly-in
Rare treat for pilots, public
Hundreds of children and their parents were entertained June 17 by dozens of general aviation pilots who landed their aircraft at the busy Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and taxied to the adjacent Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to display the airplanes for all to see, touch, or sit in.
More than 55 single- and twin-engine airplanes, commercial and military aircraft, and a handful of helicopters were parked on the ramp outside a hangar that houses the space shuttle Discovery, a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, and other significant aircraft from World War II, Vietnam, the Cold War, and the Space Age.
Air traffic controllers deftly worked the smaller aircraft in with commercial airliners landing at one of the airfield’s three parallel or one crosswind runways on a crystal, blue sky Saturday morning.
The husband-and-wife team of Kathy McGurran and Dan Metz traveled from Denver to help marshal arrivals. From there, Bradford Payne took the handoff and pointed pilots into position on the ramp beside the huge hangar.
As soon as the gates opened to the public, hundreds of children towed their parents along—or vice versa, as they sprinted to the airplanes displayed during the Innovations in Flight Day at the museum. Moms, dads, and grandparents lifted children up and over landing gear and wing walks so the youth could experience what it’s like to sit in a cockpit, manipulate a yoke or control stick, or learn how to read the flight instruments.
Cozy Mark IV pilots Bob Bittner of Wisconsin and Russ Meyerriecks of Alabama each flew hundreds of miles to join the celebration of flight and spent several hours explaining the nuances of their rear-engine, retractable nose gear, composite homebuilts to enthusiastic youth.
The throwback 1958 paint scheme of pilot John Rezzonico’s 2022 Cessna 182T garnered a lot of attention, as did a bright yellow taildragger-converted Cessna 150 Commuter dubbed Woodstock flown in by Melissa Kelley and Edward Figuli. Beechcraft T–34 Mentor owner Randy DeVere’s blue-and-white military trainer was placed near the vending area, so he was peppered with questions.
Women Airforce Service Pilots advocate, author, and recently certificated pilot Erin Miller took up a position next to the Grumman AA–5A Cheetah that she flew in with Leon Jackler. She said the event was not only fun, but it also was a great success. Plus, she said it was “pretty cool to answer ‘yes’” when attendees asked if she was the pilot.
