“Besides Independence, we had people from Illinois City, Ill., Waverly, Ames, Sumner, Blue Grass, Bettendorf, Washington, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, LaPorte City, Manchester, Clarksville, Rowley, Oelwein, Tipton, and Cedar Falls,” said Office Manager Angie Shephard. “We gave away a Walter Aviation hat to the person that came from the farthest away, a person who DROVE all the way from Des Moines.”
Other visitors included four plane-loads from the Flying Cyclones, a student aviation club in Ames. Piloting one of the planes was former resident, now ISU engineering student, Garrett Clampett. Clampett finished his pilot training in March of this year.
“I got to flew over the old house,” he said, which is only about a mile from the airport.
Another Flying Cyclone, Logan Kundrat of Chicago, took an introductory aerobatic ride. His favorite maneuvers were the “Barrel Roll” and a “Humpty Bump”.
Also in attendance was Bill Misenheimer of Waterloo. Misenheimer changed his family’s plans and celebrated his 95th birthday a day early at the cookout.
Girl Scouts from Troop 7198, who go to Starmont, also got their first plane rides while at the cookout.
“I would personally like to thank the hard working staff at Walter Aviation for their dedication to promoting aviation in our community,” said Jonathan Walter, Airport Manager and owner of Walter Aviation. “It was a wonderful summer, and the incredibly positive response from the public was very inspiring. We are happy to be able to share this unique asset in our community, and bring people out to the airport during a time when many airports are closing their doors and shutting out the public. I feel it is vitally important that each member of our community has the chance to experience what goes on at the airport, and can actually see the many positive benefits to the local community. We are already planning for next year’s events, and we hope to add many new items including more displays, access to more education programs, as well as free tours and seminars designed to show the positive impacts of our airport in Independence and the surrounding area.”
Story and Photos: http://www.communitynewspapergroup.com
Flying Cyclone, Logan Kundrat (left), prepares for his aerobatic ride by donning a parachute. With him is pilot Jonathan Walter.
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