Making dreams soar
Small wings raise money for big wish
Karen Peterson photo
Karen Peterson photo
Jim Wilson lands his plane on the St. Ignatius Airport runway.
Karen Peterson photo
Ad Clark, right, cools off his turbo jet engine with the help of a pit crew.
Karen Peterson photo
Eric Kendall raffles off items during the event to raise money for the Wings for Wishes program he started four years ago.
Karen Peterson photo
The event came in a few hundred short of their $4,000 goal with a total of $3,813, but organizers will accept donations through the end of the week.
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They may be small but the cause is mighty. Dozens of model aircraft including helicopters, propeller driven planes and jets touched down on the St. Ignatius airport runway over the weekend for the fundraising event Wings for Wishes.
The program was developed by Eric Kendall to bring model aircraft pilots and spectators together to raise money through the event to be given to the Montana chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation.
“The Make a Wish Foundation grants a wish to children stricken with life threatening illness,” Kendall said. “We raise enough money each year to give to the foundation to grant a wish.”
Kendall started the Wings for Wishes program four years ago in Polson after a friend’s child was given a wish by the foundation. He wanted to raise money to help other children. The event moved to St. Ignatius this year to an airport with less traffic.
“The wishes are given to children who spend most of their time with doctors,” he said. “For a week, we take them away from that and let them do something fun. The wish experience has a positive impact on the lives of those children and their families.”
Kendall hoped to raise $4,000 to help grant another wish this year.
“Last year, we sent a young lady to swim with the dolphins in Hawaii,” he said. “It gives me fuel knowing I am doing my part to help these kids. They didn’t ask to be sick. It’s just one of those things. Let’s do our part to help make them feel a little better.”
The event raised money with a $25 landing fee, raffles and food. Many stores donated to the event.
“Everyone in the valley pitched in a little something, so we had no overhead,” he said. “That way we can donate all the money to the foundation.”
Kendall’s son, Tyler, 15, said the event was for a good cause and everyone was having a good time flying their model aircraft.
“The big kids (adults) get to fly their planes and the little kids fly their pitch gliders,” he said.
Darrol Denny’s Yak 550 took off from the runway using only a quarter of the space of a larger plane. The propeller buzzed in front of the orange body accented by black and yellow checkers. The plane – a bit bigger than a truck tire – twirled up into the sky almost hidden in the clouds. It turned over and dropped down. The buzzing engine went silent. Close to the ground, Denny engaged the throttle. The plane flew parallel to the ground before going back up for another dive.
“They are almost just like a big plane, only we don’t use our feet,” he said, explaining the plane was operated with a radio control from the ground.
Building the plane gave him as much thrill as flying it.
“You put your work into it. You don’t want it to end up a pile of sticks,” he said of crashing a model plane, although he has done that a few times in the past.
Ad Clark’s King Cat with a turbo jet engine that really runs on jet fuel started up on the runway with a cloud of smoke billowing behind it. He did that on purpose. It sounded like a small jet as it streaked through the sky.
“I’m 70 years old,” he said. “I’ve always had a passion to build model airplanes. When I was younger, my wish was to be a Navy pilot. My wish came true. It’s important to have a wish come true. That is why I am here: to help kids that need a wish.”
As a retired police chief from Kalispell, Clark said he understood how much work it took to organize the Wings for Wishes event including the barriers put in place along the runway to protect spectators.
“What I see here is leadership,” he said. “Never have so many done so much to give me seven minutes of flight time. I would have gone longer but it drinks so much gas that I stop at seven minutes. I wouldn’t want to run out of gas.”
Flying model aircraft creates a thrill of its own.
“This is not a substitute for flying real airplanes,” he said. “I like them both.”
In 1967, he was on an aircraft carrier for the Navy. He flew on hundreds of missions. He built model airplanes when he wasn’t flying the real thing.
“I was building models to break up the monotony in a small room the size of a closet. I could hear the bomb elevator running. I needed something to keep me busy with that noise going ne-ne-ne.”
Kendall was scanning the sky while Clark’s jet lined up with the other model aircraft a few feet from the runway after it flew.
“The airport isn’t closed,” he said. As a pilot of larger planes, he said he knew what to look for as he constantly scanned the sky to see “if anything is in a pattern to land.” He said one plane came in and he made sure the runway was clear.
Kendall raised $3,813 at the event.
“We made enough to grant a wish thanks to the donations of this community. I’ll keep the bucket open one more week so people can still make donations, then I’m sending it to the foundation. If anyone wants to donate items for next year, I am accepting them all year.”
To donate, contact Kendall at (406) 499-0116 or www.wingsforwishes.weebly.com. Mail checks made out to the Make a Wish Foundation to 42430 Leighton Rd., Ronan, MT 59864.
