Hundreds Come Out to Watch the Skiplanes
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Twenty-seven airplanes flew into the 2015 EAA Skiplane Fly-In February 7. -
Tom Jackson heads back to Northern Illinois in his Zenith 701 STOL. -
Seven-year-old Kaitlyn Randolph shows off the airplane she made out of a clothes pin and Popsicle sticks at the crafts table. -
Soup's on: Several hundred attendees enjoyed hot chili in the warm indoors of Pioneer Hangar. -
A Cub is directed to its parking spot along the Pioneer flightline. -
"Can I fly it home?" -
An engine blanket worthy of its airplane. -
Father gives son a better view of the action. -
Skiplane enthusiasts join the aircraft along the flightline at Pioneer Airport. -
Mark Unertl primes for takeoff in his Aeronca Champ. -
A Cub Crafters PA18-150 opted for tundra tires instead of skis. -
Charles Slinger’s Sport Trainer on final approach. -
An Aeronca 7CCM comes in to land at Pioneer.
February 10, 2015 – Paul Poberezny often said that airplanes bring us together, but the people keep us coming back. That was true on Saturday, February 7, as several hundred winter aviation lovers reunited at EAA Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the annual EAA Skiplane Fly-In.
A total of 27 skiplanes (actually 26, plus a Cub on Tundra tires) from four states attended the event, which ran from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Poor weather to the north and iffy weather elsewhere caused a number of cancellations and held down the grand total from the more than 50 airplanes that had registered to attend. The bulk of pilots arrived from other points in Wisconsin as well as Illinois, while one pilot flew in from Minnesota and another from Indiana.
“Counting the planes was much easier than keeping track of the drive-in attendees,” said Fred Stadler, who helped lead fly-in coordination efforts. “The crowd was certainly the largest I’ve seen at this event, and they seemed to have a good time. All in all, a very successful event!”
Inside the cozy hangar attendees consumed 160 pounds of chili and all the fixins’, plus broccoli cheese soup and bread sticks, along with untold cups of hot chocolate, coffee, and soda. Topping things off, three sheet cakes celebrated the 62nd anniversary of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s first meeting held on January 26, 1953.
Of the 27 planes flying in were six Aeroncas – three Champs, a Chief, a Sedan, and an 11BC; five Piper J-3 Cubs; four Cessnas - 140, 170B, 180, and 185; a pair of Citabrias; two Maule M4s; two Super Cubs, and single examples Champion 7EC, Sport Trainer/PA-11, Quad City Challenger II, Experimental V6 STOL, Zenith 701 STOL, 1949 Piper Clipper, and a Ridgerunner E-LSA.