The future of aerospace is great at Vance Brand Municipal Airport (KLMO) in Longmont, Colorado.
At least, it sure looked great to an estimated 7,500 attendees who celebrated Longmont Airport Expo Day at KLMO in Colorado’s Front Range on Sept. 14, 2024.
In addition to the on-field attendees, as many as 1,500 additional spectators watched from local roads and open space trails.
“This was incredible,” raved one local resident. “It’s really terrific they were able to do all this, especially for free.”
The event had no admission or parking charges and all were welcome.
The Expo featured displays by local aviation-related companies, including flight schools, some experimental design/build assist companies, and others, including popular local camera store Mike’s Camera, who offered an aviation photography class.
Food trucks offered dining options, there was ample free water, and even a beer garden hosted by Flyte Co Brewery.
Static aircraft displays were plentiful, including the Colorado Aviation Historical Society’s judging of 13 vintage aircraft in five classes.
Tyler Appleton’s gorgeous Howard DGA took Grand Champion Antique Civil Aircraft and the People’s Award, with Craig Nelson’s Stearman PT-17 winning Grand Champion Antique Military.
The most exotic display was an Aerocar roadable aircraft from 1949. It’s said to be the only flyable example in the world.
Other visual treats included Cessnas: a 195, 170, and 180; a Fokker DVII replica; Globe Swift; Yak 52; two Scottish Aviation Bulldogs; Ryan PT-22 Recruit; Bellanca 8KCAB; Piper Tri-Pacer; Skybolt; Bücker Jungmann; Curtis JN-4 replica, L-17 Navion, and several more. A strong turnout for a local air show.
The activities kicked off with the ColoRODans Car Club parading its classic, muscle, and hot rod cars down the taxiway, followed by Bianca Herbert, Lara Chamberlain, and Alexandra Swenson, the singers of Victory Three, who presented an acapella version of the National Anthem alongside a US Navy color guard.
Of course, there was plenty of airborne entertainment.
Adding to the community feel, most acts were local.
Performers included Colorado-based Allen Cook in his SNJ-5 (the Navy version of the T-6 Texan), Longmont local Bob Freeman of Free Man Airshows in his new Extra 330SX, Matt Menza in his newly acquired L-39 jet, the local Commemorative Air Force Beech C-45, and the USAF Academy’s aerobatic sailplane.
The show also featured Utah-based Red Thunder Airshows Barry Hancock and Karl Gashler flying their Yak-50s individually and in a two-ship formation show.
A C-130 also did several passes as part of a fly-by.
Another highlight was local pilot extraordinaire Elliott Crawford receiving his Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the FAA after 55 years of successful flying. Crawford is a local DPE and CFI for both powered airplanes and gliders, and a cornerstone of the local aviation community.
The last Expo was 2018. Recently hired aviation-friendly airport manager Levi Brown is a big part of the airport’s resurgence. He is supported by the Airport Advisory Board and the Friends of Vance Brand Airport, who organized the more than 150 volunteers and staff, plus helped raise the $75,000 to produce the show. The City of Longmont and KLMO Events also helped.
“We worked hard to put it together and the public turned out,” said an exhausted but happy Melinda Jordan, who led the volunteer organizing.
Like many general aviation airports, Vance Brand has faced threats to its continuing operation. Most recently, the city council was moving towards approving a development directly off the edge of the runway, despite the FAA’s strongly worded objections and disapproval. A late-night meeting saw the project shelved, at least for the time being.
Vance Brand Municipal Airport is named after hometown astronaut Vance Brand who worked at NASA for decades, has 10,000 flying hours (746 in space), was a pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, and commanded three space shuttle missions. The uncontrolled airport has one 4,800-foot runway and sits at 5,033 feet above sea level.
For more information: LongmontColorado.gov/Airport
Thank you, Geremy, for this fun article covering a long-awaited day at our airport! The public begs us to present this annually but it’s a heavy lift, so we especially appreciate Geremy’s coverage as well as his volunteerism to help support the day! Every day is an airshow at KLMO with our busy GA traffic and a very busy skydiving operation on the field. We hope your readers will fly over and check us out on any day!