By Laurelle Walsh
Twisp Municipal Airport’s 19th annual Fly-In this Saturday (July 5) recognizes the anniversary of the airport’s opening 69 years ago on July 4, 1945.
All are invited to share in the celebration, enjoy a pancake breakfast, and take a look at some painstakingly restored vintage airplanes and automobiles on the airport’s grass runway.
The Fly-In and pancake breakfast starts at 7 a.m. and runs until 11 a.m.
Visitors should enter the airport from the north via Aviation Lane and follow the signs to parking, according to organizer Bob Ulrich. Look for the carved granite “Twisp Municipal Airport” sign on Highway 20, he said.
Pancakes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, eggs, ham, coffee and juice will be prepared by volunteers from the Twisp Pilots’ Association and served in an open airplane hangar.
Breakfast is $20 for a whole family; $7 for an adult; or $4 per child.
Airplanes, helicopters, antique cars and emergency rescue vehicles will be parked on the grass for guests to admire, and a visiting glider from the Arlington Glider Club is expected to fly in for the event, Ulrich said.
Airplanes on display may include Mike Port’s restored Stearman PT-17 biplane; John O’Keefe’s silver Spartan Executive — one of 34 built in 1937; O’Keefe’s Lockheed Model 10 Electra — like the one flown by Amelia Earhart; and Ross Darling’s Vietnam-era Hughes helicopter.
Smokejumpers from the North Cascades Smokejumper Base are scheduled to drop in at 9 a.m. sharp; afterwards the jump plane is expected to land on the tarmac for people to view, Ulrich said.
For more information call airport manager Bob Howson at (435) 640-1725.
