Aviation
Lifestyle...
At its best
IN EARLY SEPTEMBER I PARTICIPATED in the National Stearman Fly-In (NSFI) at Galesburg, Illinois, one of my favorite aviation events. And this year was a milestone, the 40th anniversary of what has become the must-do event of the Stearman community. The fly-in was founded by Tom Lowe and Jim Leahy in 1971 as a small gathering of Stearman friends, and the NSFI has grown to attract more than 120 Stearmans to Galesburg Municipal Airport the first week in September each year. As type clubs go, the Stearman community is as tightly knit and active as any other. Hard to know for sure the “secret sauce,” but it is not often a single type of airplane can attract
120 of its owners to rendezvous in the same
place annually, and to do so for 40 years consecutively is a pretty
solid indication of something special. And that something special is
what I want to share with you this month.
Calling it a fly-in seems inadequate to describe what happens
in Galesburg. Whatever your personal understanding of a fly-in
may be, I promise you that it probably understates the Stearman
experience. Yes, there is a gathering of old and new aviator friends
and their airplanes, and there is also aircraft judging with trophies
presented on Saturday evening at the awards banquet. Pretty
ordinary for many fly-ins. However, at Galesburg, there are many
broad activities and flying skill competitions that are designed for
novice and experienced aviators to participate in and enjoy.
The short field takeoff, flour bombing, spot landing, aerobatic
competition, and formation flying contests are a source of
endless challenge and entertainment. And if there is a stiff
wind, particularly a crosswind, the entertainment factor rises
exponentially as the competitive juices fuel the pursuit of perfection
in challenging conditions.
The competitive events produce some of the most skillful flying
performances to be seen anywhere. There is often a good dose of
comedy as pilots’ well-planned intentions are just not quite working
out at the moment of truth, and, well, let’s just say pride can become
an opportunity.
Safety is always first, and the competitions are managed and
briefed by highly experienced aviators so that when it comes time
to make the decision between a trophy and a bent ego or airplane,
ROD HIGHTOWER
COMMENTARY / TOWER FREQUENCY
the choice was already made before the
contestant took to the air. Now it goes
without saying you may hear an occasional
“Aw shucks” or “If only that gust of wind…,”
but those comments are almost always
followed shortly by, “I’ll get it right next
year!”
For 25 years a group of aviators from
Poplar Grove, Illinois, have been conducting
outreach to local schools by organizing
visits by Stearman pilots and an airport
day on Saturday for students, parents, and
schoolteachers, culminating in a flight for
a fortunate few teachers in full view of the
children as they fly over their school. It
started with the Nielson school, but now the
event has grown to include seven schools.
So impactful has this experience been,
Nielson painted a large mural of a Stearman
scene on its front entrance wall and adopted
the official motto “The sky is the limit.”
That motto was a key part of the
message that Tom Forys, Wally Falardeau,
Dave Callison, Terri Ann Hughes, and Terry
Bolger began delivering to the students 25
years ago and continues to this day. And
when a 30-something person walks up to
you, introduces him- or herself, and shares
a quick overview of a career as a military
aviator, professional pilot, or successful
professional, and then says, “I remember
you visiting our school in 19XX, and I was
inspired to fly.” Well, let’s just say, it’s a
cocktail of emotions for both people, a
moment in life that each may have privately
hoped could happen for decades.
And then there is the flying at
Galesburg. This is the flyingest bunch
of aviators you’ll ever know. Stearman
airplanes are in the air constantly
practicing for the skill events, formation
flying, giving rides, or just fun flying to
daily fly-out lunches to nearby airports that
offer real grassroots hospitality.
Galesburg—it’s a fly-in, but how many
fly-ins do you know of that earned the co-founders a spot in their state’s Aviation
Hall of Fame? It’s an aviation lifestyle
experience that has breadth, depth, and
richness beyond a simple description. My
invitation to all aviators is to seek out these
types of experiences in your aviation lives,
and discover the adventure and social fun
that awaits.
