Fly-in feeds 700
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ST. IGNATIUS — After a busy Saturday at Good Old Days, young and old took to the skies at the St. Ignatius Airport fly-in Sunday morning.
Around 40 small planes came for the event, which included a free breakfast of huckleberry pancakes, eggs, ham, biscuits and gravy. Volunteer cooks served breakfast to about 700 people, the biggest crowd in the fly-in’s history, St. Ignatius Airport alternate director Mike Kuefler said.
“We’d just like to thank the community for everything,” Kuefler said. “Every year it’s growing by 100 or 200 people.”
The fly-in is an annual part of Good Old Days designed to educate the community, especially youth, about aviation.
The Experimental Aircraft Association, which sponsored the free breakfast, took 66 Young Eagle flights — free plane rides for kids aged 8 to 17.
“If you want to learn to fly, it’s a good place to get started,” Kuefler said.
Besides enjoying pancakes and plane rides, several people got lucky in the drawings for door prizes, Kuefler added.
Local businesses donated 130 gallons of aviation gas that was given away in 10-gallon increments along with other items like various huckleberry products, gas cards and dinners at local restaurants.
Although the fly-in officially ended at noon, Kuefler said Homestead Helicopters was on site taking people on low-cost tours of Mission Falls until 4:30 p.m.
“So he did really good,” Kuefler said.
