General Aviation News

Back to Blakesburg

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Come one, come all, from large to small — to Antique Airfield in Blakesburg, Iowa!

The airplanes that fill the skies over Antique Airfield every Labor Day weekend are a treat to see and hear, and it isn’t unusual to spot a make or model you’ve not seen previously.

Ever see an open-cockpit biplane in which pilot and passenger sit side-by-side? Know what a flivver plane is? Familiar with Ford-powered airplanes? Recognize the sound of a Kinner engine? Know what a Curtiss-Wright Sedan is?

These rare types of airplanes and engines aren’t static museum pieces — they’re alive and well! [Read more…]

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Earhart Commemorative Flight

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Fifty years ago, Ann Holtgren Pellegreno departed Oakland, California, on June 9 in a restored 1937 twin-engine Lockheed 10 Electra. She and her crew followed the “Earhart Trail” eastbound around the world, and returned to Oakland July 7, 1967.

Ann and her crew — mechanic Lee Koepke, the owner and restorer of Lockheed N79237; co-pilot Bill Payne; and navigator Bill Polhemus — had meticulously planned the Earhart Commemorative Flight, as closely as possible, to arrive over Howland Island at the same time and day of the month that Amelia Earhart’s flight would have in 1937. [Read more…]

As cute as a bug: The Stits Flut-R-Bug

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There doesn’t seem to be a great number of Stits Flut-R-Bugs flitting about the skies today, but one did join the field of flying machines this past Labor Day at the Antique Airplane Association fly-in at Blakesburg, Iowa.

At age 85, owner/builder John Banes of Fairfax, Iowa, no longer flies, so his private pilot/homebuilder son, “JR” Banes of Toddville, Iowa, was flying the Flut-R-Bug. Father and son were both wiping dew from the Flut-R-Bug’s wings one morning, and shared a little bit about N5479Y. [Read more…]

Hayden’s storied Spokane Parasol

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A silver Heath Super Parasol shimmered in the late summer sun as it flew by Antique Airfield. Its 20-year-old owner/pilot, Hayden Newhouse, felt the breeze ruffling through his hair, and couldn’t help but smile as he listened to the Continental A-40 humming happily along and the wind whistling through the Parasol’s wire-braced wing struts.

Gazing over the nose, the burnished cowling and cockpit fairing was gleaming through its time-worn patina, transporting him to another time. His thoughts eddied and swirled with the airflow over his wings, reaching far back through the mists of aviation history. [Read more…]

Back to Blakesburg and back to basics

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The weather was so delightful this year that there were a record number of airplanes — close to 400 — that flew to Antique Airfield at Blakesburg, Iowa.

Aircraft from 37 states were in attendance, and Classic Aviation of Pella, Iowa, stayed busy pumping fuel from its fuel truck, selling more than 3,000 gallons.

The fly-in started on Wednesday, Aug. 31, and the “Gone Home” Award Ceremony was held Sunday, Sept. 4. The event officially concluded on Monday afternoon, Sept. 5.

The 46th Annual Antique Airplane Association/Airpower Museum’s (AAA/APM) Invitational Fly-In was themed “BTB Days — Back to Blakesburg & Back to Basics.” [Read more…]

Wartime memories of a B-17 engineering officer

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Note: This article has been excerpted and adapted by the author from her book “My Father, My Friends ~ Memories of World War II,” which is based on her interviews with World War II veterans.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, native Iowan and farm boy Chester Peek knew his life was headed in a direction he’d never imagined. An engineering graduate, Peek also had a commercial flying license by the time he joined the 95th Bomb Group in October 1942. [Read more…]

The Classy Cabin Ace SJ

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When this small aircraft flies overhead, the questions start flying as well.

What kind of airplane is that? Is it an antique?

Well, it does resemble one, with its angular windshield, outrigger gear, large spoked wheels, and square-shaped rudder — but it isn’t.

This classy Cabin Ace SJ (N486N) is a special blend, concocted by a couple of retired chemists who are avid homebuilders and pilots. [Read more…]

The Brilliant Bentzen Sport

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“We’re all astounded at what this Bentzen Sport can do,” says Rob Bach of Pell Lake, Wisconsin, adding, “Bill and Ken Bentzen were engineers and brothers; they only built one plane — and they built it perfectly.”

Though the airplane is 54 years old, it’s a fresh face on the flight line today, with an intriguing history. [Read more…]

The playful Pober Pixie

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Evoking the open-air feeling of sport plane flying from the 1930s, the single-seat Pober Pixie, with its parasol wing and open cockpit, is a playful and happy-spirited flying machine.

NX321PX was completed by co-owners Rick Gritters and Tom Vander Linden of Pella, Iowa. [Read more…]

Keeping the antiques flying, year after year

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Sunny Iowa skies, homemade pies, one-of-a-kind airplanes, and colorful aviators all mixed together this past Labor Day to create the special type of ambiance for which Antique Airfield is known.

Known by most as just Blakesburg, it’s the kind of fly-in where pilots don’t need radios. Red and green flags control the air traffic, and neatly-mowed grass cushions each and every landing.

And even if your ear isn’t attuned to the different types of radial engines, you’ll soon learn that there’s no mistaking the sound of a six-cylinder Challenger engine laboring to keep a 1929 Curtiss Robin cabin monoplane aloft, or the roar of a 600-hp Pratt & Whitney radial as the replica “Mister” Mulligan zooms by! [Read more…]