Airport Fun Day Was A Hit | Lincoln EAA Chapter 1541

I want to highlight the success our EAA Chapter 1541 enjoyed today as we sponsored our chapter’s first Airport Fun Day. For those who missed it, it was held in and around our hangar today between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. We had a great crowd of people, mostly families with young children. It was, in my memory anyway, the most well-attended chapter event we have ever held. Crowd estimates are in the neighborhood of 250 people or so, quite a bit more than we expected, and something that required two rapid trips to local grocery stores to restock hot dogs and buns. All of our visitors seemed to have a great time…smiles all around…and it was obvious that many had never visited our Lincoln airport or any general aviation airport period. Just the airplanes taxiing about, taking off and landing, and the local skydivers alone generated excitement and interest for both young and old alike. We had six airplanes on static display, and there was always a crowd around each of them. Inside the hangar we had a variety of activities, from a hands-on riveting demonstration to a flight simulator. We had a representative from William Jessup University’s new aviation program on hand, and also a representative from a radio-control aircraft group. Our own chapter had an information table and a Young Eagles table that provided sign-up information for the chapter’s Young Eagle Rally in three weeks (May 4). For the younger kids, we ran the Disney “Planes” animated movie and had a table set aside for coloring airplane-themed masterpieces. And for all, we provided a hot dog lunch that proved obviously popular.

Many hands went into making this event a success, but, at the risk of missing someone, I do want to shout out to a few for special recognition: Erika Wallin and Cheryl Andrade for much of the overall planning and organization; Dug Smith for his tireless grill duty; Tom Lieb for his food support, Darren Coomler for his parking administration, Rubin Wallin for the flight simulator; and Dan and Linda Masys for creating the riveting display. John House and Bruce Estes were also (voluntarily) pressed into sun-impacted duty, the former in crowd control on the taxiway and the latter in manning the kiddie airplane. And, there were a bunch of other individuals from our chapter who dove in and helped out where needed, when needed.

– Scott Thompson (EAA1541 President)