Around the middle of August the town of Halstead, Kansas, holds their annual Old Settlers’ Day. In conjunction with that, the Mid-America Antique Airplane Group holds their annual Fly-In at Wiebe Field, Halstead’s official airport. Some thirty planes showed up this year. They ranged from a T-6
to a Midget Mustang
and all manner of planes in between. Some very interesting planes there were a Mooney M20A.
This was the last of the wood wing and wood tailed Mooneys. Your author was instrumental in designing the M20B which converted the plane to all metal.
But I can’t let this article go by without alluding to the airplane that got me going in EAA. In the early sixties I read a book written by Pete Bowers about his designing and building the Fly Baby. I later met Pete in Seattle where he was member of that chapter. (He looked a lot older than his picture on the book cover.) Well, lo and behold, there was a Fly Baby there at the Fly-In.
It was this plane that got me interested in The Experimental Aircraft Association and that association continues to this very day. (I should have bought a lifetime membership then, but $200 was big money at that time.)
The day started at 7:30 am with the ubiquitous pancake and sausage breakfast. Around 10:00 am the planes began to line up so that they could make a pass over the Old Settlers parade route – fastest planes first so that they wouldn’t run over the slower planes.
About 11:30 a pickup hauling a big smoker pulled up with a great selection of pulled pork, sliced brisket and chopped brisket for our lunch. Everyone enjoyed a great lunch.
And the Winners Were…
So there you have it, folks. Keep next August open for a great show at Halstead, KS.
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