BLAKESBURG —
For the nearly 300 aviators that flew into Blakesburg this weekend, it’s about the beauty of the fly in and the chance to reunite with old friends.
Aviators began flying home from the 41st annual AAA APM Invitational Fly-In this weekend. The Antique Airfield is home to both the AAA and the Airpower Museum (APM).
“Considering the weather and the presidentail TFRs in the state, our turnout was pretty good,” Brent Taylor, executive director of the AAA and chairman of the fly-in, said of the approximately 290 airplanes that showed up at the fly-in.
The weekend is like a family reunion, Taylor said, as aviators come back year after year to reunite with friends, watch the planes fly and hang out.
Taylor said aviators attended from Seattle, California, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, among others. Due to Hurricane Isaac, though, aviators that usually fly up from Florida were unable to attend this year.
George Winheim, of Keosauqua, has been attending the fly-in with his wife, Pat, for the last 11 years.
George has had his pilot’s license since 1971 and was hooked on the fly-in when his brother-in-law took him flying 11 years ago.
“He took me flying one weekend and I was hooked again,” George said. “It was such an enjoyable evening. It was cool, calm. I came home and told my wife we’ve got to have an airplane.”
After finding an airplane with an open cockpit, a Starduster, the Winheims started attending the fly-in.
George said he was interested in aviation since he was a little boy.
“The models I would make back then, in the mid-50s, were the Korean war jets, the F84s,” he said.
But the best part of flying is the trip, he said.
“To the pilot, it’s the destination; to the aviator, it’s the trip,” he said.
Pat noted that some pilots come to these fly-ins to be aviators for a weekend, since most now type their flight plan into computers, which control the flight.
George’s grandchildren in Illinois also have the treat of their grandfather taking them for rides in the Starduster, he said.
The furthest he’s flown this plane has been to Lockridge, Penn., he said, to the 75th anniversary of the Piper J-3, as well as a trip to Osh Kosh, Wis. in 2003.
While George said he does aerobatics from time to time — much to the chagrin of his wife — he’s a fan of the slower, simpler tricks, rather than the large ones put on by air shows.
“It’s like comparing ballet to breakdancing,” George said.
CNHI/Southeast Iowa
Related Photos
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George Winheim, of Keosauqua, hopped in his plane, a Starduster, Sunday morning. Winheim has been attending the fly-in for the last 11 years. Chelsea Davis/The Courier
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Nearly 300 airplanes make trip to annual Blakesburg fly-in
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