The 2021 Swift National Convention was a special one: The Diamond anniversary event celebrating 75 years.
Back to Blakesburg: Welcome home!
“No other fly-in I know of can boast the aircraft that were continually hauling rides, including a Swift, Waco UPF-7, Staggerwing, Stinson SR-5, and a Lockheed Vega. Add to that such activities as a Town Hall with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Mark Baker, two FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot and one Charles Taylor award presentations, Hans Nordsiek with The Storyteller presentation for kids, as well as our usual activities, and you can begin to see that numbers don’t always tell the whole tale.”
The thrill of flying low and slow
“I enjoy the scenery while I’m flying low and slow, and watching the farmhouses go by,” he says. “If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t do it.”
Monocoupe Fever
Ever since the Golden Age, Monocoupes have captivated general aviation pilots, who happily admit they have “Monocoupe fever.” Three of the antiques were on hand at the 2020 Antique Aircraft Association fly-in and their owners tell their stories.
A Stearman on steroids
Bill Clifford and Ace Prechtl of Long Island, New York, co-own Serendipity, a 1940 N3N-3 that Ace restored several decades ago. According to Bill, the the N3N is “just a wonderful airplane — the controls are all balanced so it handles great, it flies straight and level so nice, and it’s fully aerobatic. It’s an incredible airplane!”
An antique fair-weather flyer
Iowa’s Mark Lancaster owns just one of nine Fairchild Model 24-Js on the FAA registry. He reports the antique airplane is “just fun and simple flying!”
A promise made and kept
When he was just a 16-year-old student pilot Dan Helsper saw a Pietenpol Air Camper, “the most beautiful thing” he’d ever seen. He vowed then and there to build one of his own some day.
A Culver Cadet family
Culver Cadets have been a part of the Rezich family since 1940. Their newest Cadet took top honors at the 2020 Antique Airfield Association’s fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa.
One sweet Cessna 140A
Elliot Block’s new (to him) Cessna 140A is a modern day aviation story, made possible by Instagram, Craigslist and new friends who encourage new adventures.