Keep the antiques flying!

After a long flight from Tennessee, the green flag signaling “cleared to land” is a refreshing sight.

The upsloping approach end of Runway 18 rises to meet the wheels and, after an unceremonious bounce or two, the Swift settles onto the grass. Soon a helpful volunteer on a four-wheeler leads the way to parking in a row bordering a vast field of corn.

Welcome to Antique Airfield in Blakesburg, Iowa, home of the Antique Aircraft Association (AAA). The organization, whose motto is “Keep the Antiques Flying,” hosted its 70th national fly-in Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2023, and I was here to take it all in.

After parking, the first person I meet is my neighbor off the left wing, Syd Cohen, who’s flown from Wausau, Wisconsin, in his sparkling silver Ercoupe. A prop card proclaims “This aircraft has flown 1,287 Young Eagles.” Now that’s a conversation starter.

A high school teacher for 29 years, Syd recalls, “I’d say to my students, ‘Hey, it’s a beautiful day. Who wants to go flying?’ I had around 70 kids I’d given rides to before Young Eagles came along.”

Syd took his first plane ride in a friend’s Ercoupe, fell in love with the type, and promptly purchased one. He learned to fly in the little bird, and after 41 years, 3,650 flying hours, and an award-winning restoration, he shows no signs of slowing down. He’s flown as far west as Arizona and as far south as Key West, and is taking off for Hood River, Oregon, after Labor Day.

I ask Syd about a favorite Ercoupe experience, and without hesitation he describes flying through the Hudson River VFR corridor around the Statue of Liberty.

“We’re going past all these skyscrapers,” he recalls. “We’re at 800 feet and these skyscrapers are above us. It’s amazing.”

Syd and I are parked in a field designated for classic and modern aircraft. Our planes, both built in 1946, are “classics,” and we’re surrounded by a sea of Luscombes, Stinsons, Taylorcrafts, Cessna 120s, 140s, and 170s, and every branch of the Piper Cub family tree. It’s a veritable post-war general aviation family reunion.

Walking toward the heart of Antique Airfield, I stop to admire a row of brawny Stearman biplanes, then head toward a field of aviation history: Row upon row of open-cockpit biplanes, ranging from a deHavilland Tiger Moth trainer to a workhorse New Standard D-25.

And for the business traveler, there’s a complement of Beechcraft Staggerwings, cabin Wacos, and a pristine 1946 Fairchild model 24W-46.

The Fairchild is the pride and joy of Cameron Grossl, a mechanical engineer and A&P mechanic from Georgetown, Kentucky.

Cameron, who learned to fly in a Cessna 150, says, “I’ve always liked older airplanes. I bought a Luscombe, and the day I took my private pilot check ride, the guy I bought the Luscombe from delivered it. And so I got my private license and then got to learn to fly all over again.”

Following the Luscombe, Cameron owned an Acro Sport II and built a Christen Eagle, both which he flew in aerobatic competitions.

Cameron came across the Fairchild while on a trip to Colorado. He’d been looking for one for a while, and stopped by Kelly Airpark to visit Aircraft Restoration and Repair, owned by noted Fairchild restorer Jamie Treat. That’s when he first laid eyes on NC77605.

It was a work in progress, and Cameron remembers thinking, “Oh man, somebody’s going to have a really nice airplane when this gets done.”

Turns out that lucky “someone” was Cameron, who ended up purchasing the plane even before the restoration was complete.

With its 200-hp Ranger engine, the Fairchild cruises at 110 mph.

“Usually about 2.5 or 3 hours is as far as I’ll go without having to put oil in it,” he reports. “It uses about 2 quarts an hour, which is very common for a Ranger.”

When asked what he likes most about the plane, Cameron smiles and replies, “I just think it’s a really cool-looking airplane. Kind of a very stately way of traveling around.”

And speaking of traveling around, a highlight of this year’s fly-in was the “Blakesburg Bendix and Air King Charity Challenge.”

Inspired by the Bendix cross-country races, which ran from 1931 through 1962, this event challenged pilots to estimate their time and speed over a course from Hastings, Nebraska, to Antique Airfield, with an overnight stop at Red Oak, Iowa. Contestants were constrained to using 1930s technology: An E-6B computer and plotter, sectional charts, and pencil.

Before departure, pilots submitted their estimated time and speed calculations for each leg, then flew over designated checkpoints while ground observers noted their times. Trailing the contestants was a “light plane cavalcade” of nine aircraft, whose pilots were tagging along just for the fun of it.

One of these pilots was Tom Regier from Reedley Municipal Airport (O32), in the central valley of California.

Tom, who flew his Kinner-powered 1941 Ryan PT-22, relates, “There were nine of us in the cavalcade, and we followed the three competitors: Two Wacos and a homebuilt by Danny Sorenson with a Russian motor turning backwards. We started in Hastings, Nebraska, then flew over Crete and landed in Red Oak, Iowa, and had a barbecue banquet there. The next morning we took off and flew on to Greenfield, Iowa, and then on to here.”

Tom’s beautiful PT-22 is two years out of restoration, which he completed in just under a year, doing all the metal and fabric work himself. That’s not too surprising, considering that Tom ran the A&P school at Reedley College for 31 years, and now has a full-time business doing structural rebuilds on insurance-totaled aircraft. This man can rivet in his sleep.

For the record, the order of finish in the “Air King Charity Challenge” was:

• Third place: Danny Sorensen, flying his 2008 Sorensen BF9-2 Phantom.
• Second place: Todd Harders and navigator Owen Roberts Day in a 1937 Waco YKS-7.
• First place: Justin Morris in his 1936 Waco YKS-6.

Prize money for each winner went to a charity of their choice.

A daily ritual at Antique Airfield is the pilot briefing. That’s because, unlike many fly-ins where folks tie down and stay for the duration, the Blakesburg traffic pattern is full of pilots giving rides, making photo passes, and just having an all-around good time.

Saturday morning, AAA president Brent Taylor covered the rules of engagement: “Watch for the flagman at the approach end. A green flag means you’re cleared to land and a red flag means go-around. We’re on Runway 18 today, so be sure to start your takeoff roll from the end, not the white threshold line. And those of you with smoke systems, please don’t use them on takeoff; it wipes out visibility for the flagmen.”

Finally, he dropped a pearl of wisdom we should all heed: “Remember, Bernoulli flies the airplane, not Marconi, so keep your eyes out of the cockpit!”

Following the briefing, Brent introduced two guests from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA): Colin Stagnito, Senior Vice President of Media and Marketing, and Dr. Brent Blue, an FAA senior aviation medical examiner.

Colin spoke about FAA-proposed rules on MOSAIC, which redefines the light sport aircraft category. He also gave updates on the 100LL fuel replacement program and the rising cost of aircraft insurance, especially for older pilots.

Blue covered challenges of BasicMed, including gaining international recognition for the program, and AOPA’s efforts to educate insurers, some of whom still don’t accept BasicMed. He also reminded pilots of the importance of CO detectors and took questions on individual medical issues.

Capping off the meeting, Brent presented the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award to Monte Jestes of Stillwater, Oklahoma. Monte learned to fly in 1969 and retired as a captain from USAir in 2001. Today he’s an active CFI at his home field of Mulberry Hill Airport (6OK9). He flew to Blakesburg and camped beside his Piper PA-11.

Like all AAA reunions, when not admiring the constant parade of antique and classic aircraft, most folks spent the day catching up with old friends and making new ones.

When the midday heat got a bit oppressive, some took refuge in a shady hangar or the Airpower Museum, while many enjoyed homemade pie and ice cream. I was told the industrious Blakesburg pie ladies sold nearly 100 pies…that’s 600 slices…with proceeds benefiting the Blakesburg Preservation Society.

Always willing to sacrifice for a worthy cause, I sampled several recipes, and can wholeheartedly recommend the gooseberry pie, or the cherry, or blueberry.

Blakesburg — come for the planes, stay for the pie!