Look! Up in the sky -- it's the Wings and Wheels Fly-In
Jul. 15—During a haircut Thursday, Brian Shaw told his barber he might be featured in some photos at Port Meadville Airport.
"What? There's an airport in Meadville?" Shaw recalled the woman asking. "She had no idea. Nobody really knows about this airport in Meadville. It's just crazy. I get it, but anything we can do to raise awareness for the Port Meadville Airport would be appreciated."
As president of the Meadville chapter of the Experimental Aviation Association, Shaw and his fellow club members hope to raise eyes toward the skies while also raising spirits and awareness this weekend with the "Wings & Wheels Fly-In" at Port Meadville from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. The free event is the group's most important fundraiser of the year and supports the free flights the EAA offers for youngsters each spring.
"Our hope is to introduce young people to careers in the field of aviation," said Shaw, who has been a pilot since 2010.
While the fly-in today is free, the event will feature a pancake breakfast and lunch items available for donations plus airplane rides for purchase as part of the fundraising effort. Two small passenger planes, including Shaw's Beechcraft Bonanza "V-tail," will ferry a few passengers at a time for $60 each throughout the day.
Plenty of other activities and sights will be on hand to entertain those who prefer to remain earthbound for the event. Airplane-themed pedal cars will be available for the junior-pilot crowd along with face painting. The older set can enjoy the classic and antique cars on display and people of all ages will likely be drawn to the "Beach City Baby," one of numerous planes expected to be at the fly-in.
Regardless of the crowd of aircraft that participate, the Beach City Baby is all but certain to stand out: A fully restored C-53 Skytrooper, the troop transport plane was part of Allied campaigns in northern Africa during World War II before spending 20 years as "Buckeye One," the official aircraft of the governor of Ohio, according to Franklin-based Vintage Wings Inc. the company that restored and maintains the plane.
Accompanying Beach City Baby will be Baker Company, a paratrooper reenactment group. The event will also feature basket auctions and drawings as part of the fundraiser.
If the weather cooperates, club member Minette Clepper hopes to tumble out of her Woodcock Township home to the runway her father built about half a century ago. There, she can hop in her 1954 Cessna 170-B, a four-seat "taildragger" — so called because it features a third smaller wheel at the tail of the craft rather than tricycle-style wheels with a single wheel under the nose.
"In its time in 1954, it was a pretty nice airplane for business travel," Clepper said. "I use it for personal flying — to fly places with friends, fly to lunch or to meet up."
Clepper bought the classic plane in 2019 but has been piloting the same Cessna model her entire flying life.
"I hate to even say the number. I've had a license for 48 years," Clepper said before joking about her lifelong hobby, "I'm figuring it out — I'm getting close."
The event today will offer everyone a chance to get close to aircraft ranging from restored 20th-century classics to recent kit-built experimental planes.
Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.
