True grassroots flying

As a brilliant moon glowed in a pastel September sky, the fading light of day softly silhouetted a Travel Air making a circuit of the grass field at Brodhead Airport (C37) in Wisconsin. Incandescent landing lights adorned its upper wings, and the sound of its Wright J-5 punctuated the cool evening air. For all sensory purposes, it was 1928.

But it was early September 2025 at the Midwest Antique Airplane Club’s Grassroots Fly-In.

Grassroots is a private, members-only fly-in, held every year by the Midwest Antique Airplane Club the weekend after Labor Day. The event is facilitated by volunteers from EAA Chapter 431 and the Kelch Aviation Museum, as well as the airport owner, Hawk-Aire.

By Saturday, Sept. 5, Friday’s cold and windy weather had abated some, and airplanes were constantly landing and taking off, much to the appreciation of onlookers and photographers.

All told, there were 186 aircraft flying to and from the field during the fly-in, which included 125 different types.

A few of the most uncommon aircraft were a Travel Air D-4-D, a Piaggio Royal Gull, a 7/8th-scale S.E.5a, Culver Cadets, a Porterfield, a Dornier 28, a Waco S3HD and GXE, a Corben Junior Ace, a Thorp T-18, a Luscombe T8F, and a de Havilland DH82A.

Beech C-45H

Shawn and Karen Kramer of Indianapolis flew their friend’s C-45H (N8504) to Brodhead this year for the second time.

“We help maintain the airplane and get to take it to a few fly-ins a year,” said Shawn. “It was built for the Air Force originally as an AT-11, so it had the bomb bay doors, the glass nose, and the turret on the top. It was sent back to Beech after the war and they converted it to a C-45H. Then it went to the state of Ohio and they put a Plexiglas panel on the bottom of the nose and used it for aerial mapping. Our friend is the second civilian owner of this plane, and I get to fly it and feed it. We’ve got a Bellanca Cruisemaster that we’ve flown up here twice as well.”

Thorp T-18

Corporate pilot Scott Schieble is a frequent visitor to Brodhead — not only for Grassroots, but also for the Pietenpol fly-in prior to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

“I have a C-85-powered Grega GN-1, which is a variant of the Pietenpol, so I fly that here as well,” he said. “This is just a great place to be any day of the week!”

Scott acquired his Thorp T-18 (N818TR) two years ago, and enjoyed the adventure of flying it home to Genoa, Illinois, from Salem, Oregon.

“The builder named it ‘Mr. Clayton’s Opus.’ It took him 32 years to build,” shared Scott.

“I like the Thorp’s efficiency,” he continued. “It flies about 145 knots true airspeed and burns about 7.5 gph. I enjoy being able to get somewhere in a reasonable amount of time for a reasonable amount of fuel — and it is aerobatic. I’m the only one in my family who flies, aside from my grandfather who was a B-17 pilot. I just love airplanes — whether it’s a low and slow machine or a jet!”

Taylorcraft F21A

Ted Miller of Santa Rosa, California, being no stranger to long cross-countries, flew his F21A (N4417A) across the country to Brodhead.

“Mostly, I like visiting with friends here — and seeing the airplanes, too,” he said. “Flying gives me the freedom to travel and meet people. Some of the best adventures start when you’re flying along and the weather closes in, and you have to land someplace you never heard of and then you meet somebody interesting!”

Ted got his first stick time in 1951 when he was 8 years old. He soloed at 16 in a BC12-D, which he still flies, and in which many other family members have soloed. He flew for United Airlines for 38 years, starting on the DC-6 and retiring on the Boeing 747-400.

His quiet demeanor belies his 57,700 hours flown, which include flying his Beech Debonair in 1970 to New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea with his childhood friend, Emil Tedeschi.

In 1971, Ted and his wife, Diane, flew the Debonair around the world in three months on their honeymoon. All told, he’s flown his Debonair across the North Atlantic seven times and across the Pacific five times. He also used to fly two transcontinental trips a year with his Stearman.

Ted quickly professes that his favorite airplane is “my BC12-D, and next to that is the Douglas DC-8. It flew like a big Taylorcraft and was a very honest airplane.”

S.E.5a

Mark Zilinsky of Naperville, Illinois, and his father, Bob, started building a 7/8th scale S.E.5a from plans in the 1970s. Eight years later, it was finished.

“My dad has always been into World War I, and in 1981 he flew the S.E.5a to Oshkosh where it got a Lindy award,” Mark said. “The next year, he had an accident with the airplane and damaged it and himself. He had been very involved with a lot of people that were building these around the country and in Canada and Europe. One of the first things he did when he gained consciousness again was to write a letter to every single one of them, and said, ‘there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the airplane that you’re building. It was my fault that I did what I did.’”

“He loved the airplane,” he continued. “He rebuilt it and flew it again in the mid-2000s. The first time, it was in American colors. A friend of my dad’s, Ray Brooks, was a World War I pilot and squadron commander in the 95th Aero Squadron, so we painted it after his airplane. Dad was — and still is — a model builder and he’s really detail oriented, which you can see on this S.E.5a.”

Mark has been so busy with his Chandelle Aeroplane Restoration business that this was the first time in 10 years that he flew the S.E.5a to Grassroots. Best of all, his 96-year-old father also visited the fly-in, and was quite surprised and pleased to see N8040Z there.

“It has an O-235 and it’s a fun airplane to fly,” said Mark, noting “you have to pay attention to it on hard surface, but it handles really nice.”

Champion 7GCAA Citabria

Linda Lovley flew her recently-acquired Citabria (N8346V) solo from Le Sueur, Minnesota, to Grassroots. It was her first cross country since 2006.

“I had to prepare for it mentally and learn how to use the Garmin 760 Aera,” said Linda. “I knew I had to ‘rip that band-aid off’ to fly it cross country.”

Back when she was first learning to fly, she and her husband, Forrest, had a toddler-aged son.

“The day that I soloed in 1979, Vaughn also soloed — he walked for the first time, across the hangar — so we cut his shirttail too,” shared Linda.

“Both of our sons got their first airplane ride in a Model A Pietenpol that Bernard Pietenpol built. When Vaughn was six months old, Forrest flew it and I sat in the front and held Vaughn. By the time Matt was born, I had my license. So I flew that same Pietenpol, and Jenny Rasmussen sat in the front and held Matt. Then four years ago, at our First Ditch fly-in, Matt took Jenny for a ride in the last original Pietenpol built by Bernard. Then Matt gave me a ride in it. After we landed, Matt said, ‘There! We’ve come full circle.’”

Linda and Forrest have been flying to Brodhead for years.

“The fly-in doesn’t start until Thursday, but we always come on Monday just to set up the tent and hang out. It’s just so peaceful and relaxing,” said Linda. “People are friendly, and there are so many different kinds of airplanes. The Grassroots name just totally fits everything about it!”

Kelch Aviation Museum

As usual, the Kelch Aviation Museum opened its doors to those attending the fly-in. This non-profit museum has become entwined in the tapestry of the local community.

Pat Weeden, museum director, highlighted new donations and volunteers: “The Brodhead community foundation paid for our new parking lot, as well as tables and chairs for our Fellowship Hall. We had an Aeronca L-3 project and 1940s Harleys that were donated this year, and our foot traffic has almost doubled from visitors and bus tours. Nick Hein and Mike Flory are relating aviation to high school physics and calculus classes within a 30-mile radius. Michael John Jaeger has been traveling in Wisconsin and Illinois to present his Airmail Beacons program. And Nancy Kopp is inventorying and entering 3,000 books into our library software, with the goal of having a research library available.”

If you’re intrigued and want to experience Grassroots, join MAAC and venture to Brodhead!

For more information: MAACGrassroots.net

More Photos From The Show