One of the highlights from the 2011 North Cascades Vintage Fly-In was a visit from local pilot Erik Lindbergh. Erik is the grandson of Charles Lindbergh and is actively involved in the aviation community. His most recent efforts are aimed at electric aviation and getting kids engaged in aerospace through his Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP).

Erik made a presentation during the fly-in and it was interesting for those from the vintage airplane community to hear from the front lines of the up and coming world of electric aircraft. After the fly-in here, Erik was off to Oshkosh where he presented this year’s LEAP winner.

One of the highlights for us was having the opportunity to introduce Erik to Warren Meyer. Warren is one of our favorite people and frequently visits the museum. A retired Pan Am pilot, Warren was the captain on the flight that flew Charles Lindbergh on what would be his final trip home to Hawaii in 1972 (picture).

Warren did not know Erik was going to be at the fly-in and it was pure coincidence that he happened to be wearing a t-shirt with and image of Lindbergh on the front. Warren learned how to fly in the 1930s and his airline career spanned from the DC-3 to the 747. Like many pilots of his generation, he was greatly inspired by Charles Lindbergh and had many fond recollections of meeting the legendary pilot.

Erik Lindbergh talking electric airplanes at the 2011 Vintage Fly-In.

After a being out of the cockpit for a while, Erik was right back at home flying in the Champ.

With apologies for the delay, we finally have some time to get some pictures up from this year’s fly-in. This year’s fly-in was once again a big success despite some weather over the Cascades preventing some visitors from the east side of the state from making it over the mountains. Our best count was around 160 airplanes that flew in during the day. The picture above was taken late in the afternoon, and there are still over 110 airplanes on the ground.

The word continues to spread throughout the vintage airplane community here in the pacific northwest and each year we see several new faces as well as welcome back those who have been making the trip for many years. This year one of the many highlights was the arrival of Jeff Paulson and his Stinson Model O reproduction. Several other Stinsons, including a Junior, made it to Concrete as well to celebrate this year’s featured manufacturer.

Continue reading »Belated Pictures From 2011 North Cascades Vintage Fly In

Everybody has been busy up here at 3W5 for the past several days getting ready for the fly in. Grass is being mowed, airplanes are being washed, and final preparations are being made to welcome vintage airplane enthusiasts from around the region.

Here at the museum, everybody has been busy trying to get ready for the weekend. In addition to getting ready, work continues on some of the airplanes, including the newest short wing Piper, the Vagabond.

There was also some airplane shuffling that took place this week. The Call Air that was so popular at the Arlington Fly-In this year was moved into one of the main display hangars where it sits happy after getting so much scrubbing and polishing.

We’re looking forward to another fantastic fly-in again in 2011, and hope you’ll be able to join us here in Concrete. More information about the fly-in can be found here. Drop by and say hello.

Just a reminder that the best little vintage fly-in the the northwest is coming up this weekend. If today’s forecast can be believed, it even looks like summer will make an appearance this weekend as well!

We’ve been busy at the museum getting airplanes ready and over the next few days we’ll be getting things ready at the airport. We’re expecting another great turnout of airplanes including several Stinsons to celebrate this year’s featured manufacturer, including the beautiful Model O. The oldest flying Boeing in the world will be back once again along with several other historic airplanes.

This year’s featured speakers will be Erik Lindbergh and Tom Casey. Mr. Lindbergh will be talking about the inspiration from his family history and how he’s trying to inspire the next generation of aviators as well as the next generation of electric airplanes. Mr. Casey will talk about his epic flight around the world on straight floats. He was the first and so far only person to circumnavigate the globe on straight floats and there are several amazing tales from the trip.

Breakfast will be served at the high school across the street starting at 7am Saturday and food will be available at the airport all day.

We’re looking forward to another great fly-in this year and hope you can join us whether you arrive by plane or by car. For more information on this year’s fly-in click here.

The NW Super Cub Fly-In was once again a lot of fun over the weekend. The only down side was the weather over the Cascades prevented many pilots from flying in from the east side of the state, but more than 40 airplanes ended up making it and both the STOL competition and flour bombing were fun as always.

With several of the STOL competitors not making it in from the east side, there were only a handful of pilots competing this year. In the heavy touring class there were a pair of 180s and a Piper Pacer working hard to keep up with the Cessnas.

In the bush category a trio of Super Cubs kept the distances short. And despite the efforts of the organizers to recruit some of the lightweight airplanes, no airplanes competed in the lightweight category. There was almost no wind for most of the competition so the distances are pretty honest.

Continue reading »NW Super Cub Fly-In STOL And Flour Bombing Competitions

NW Super Cub Fly-In

Just a reminder about the upcoming fly-ins here at 3w5. Next weekend (June 24-26) the NW Super Cub Fly-In will be taking place here in Concrete. This event is organized by a group of local PA-18 pilots, but is open to everybody. The museum will be hosting a Piper Tube & Fabric Fly-In at the same time and we encourage pilots of vintage Piper’s to join us for a great weekend.

The highlight of the weekend is Saturday’s STOL competition. Using the grass next to the runway, pilots are tasked with taking off with as little ground roll as possible from a marked line. They then return and touch down after the line and stop with as little ground roll as possible.

There are multiple categories for the STOL competition and last year entries included Super Cubs, CubCrafter Sport Cubs, 180s and even a 150. So there are opportunities for the non-bush class of airplanes as well.

Continue reading »NW Super Cub Fly-In & Concrete North Cascades Vintage Fly-In

Our first fly-in of the year was on Saturday and unfortunately the weather was less than cooperative. It was IMC to the east over the Cascade mountains and it was overcast with some occasional rain during the day. There were some breaks in the weather and occasionally we could see down valley to the west.

Despite the less than ideal weather we did get a handful of airplanes fly in for a visit in addition to some of our locals here at 3W5.

In addition to those who flew in, we had a visitor all the way from France who was excited to see the museum airplanes and in particular the Call Air. In fact he contacted asking us specifically about the airplane.

The schedule was tight, he had to be back at Boeing Field by 3pm for work. A representative of the European Aviation Safety Association, our new friend has been in Seattle for the past several weeks as a flight test engineer on the new Boeing 787 certification flights.

After many hours riding in the cockpit of the 787, he was excited to get his hands on the control of the Call Air.

With summer around the corner, we are busily preparing for fly-in season here in Concrete. In addition to the five fly-ins that will be happening here, we are also making plans to fly some of our airplanes to some of the other great fly-ins around the pacific northwest (and beyond).

Our big fly-in here in Concrete will be again held in late July. The newly renamed Concrete North Cascades Vintage Fly-In will be taking place July 22-24 with the main day being Saturday, the 23rd. We are expecting another fantastic fly-in and already have several interesting aircraft attending. Addison Pemberton’s Boeing Model 40 will be back, as will the Laird. Addison says as many as a dozen or so biplanes may be flying in from Felts Field.

The beautiful 1933 Stinson Model O that graced Arlington and Oshkosh in 2010 will be here this year.  And we’re hoping to have a Douglas DC-3 make the trip.

In addition to the big fly-in, we are planning several smaller ones that will be low-key get togethers for anybody who wants to enjoy a nice day in the north cascades. The first of these will be Saturday, May 21st. We’re calling it our “Taildragger Pancake Breakfast” and we encourage anybody with a tail dragger or anybody who likes tail draggers to come by for breakfast.

Continue reading »Upcoming Fly-Ins

This Saturday there will be a tribute and celebration of the life of museum founder Harold Hanson. Weather permitting, we will get many of the airplanes outside and do some flying as well.

We invite everybody to join us this Saturday, beginning at 2pm. We will have food and drinks and time to talk with old friends.