Plane in parade evokes sky-high memories (newspaper article – Rochester)
Dan Hoehn
By Harley Flathers, Columnist
7/16/2008
When we watched the recent Rochesterfest parade, unit number 81
featured a real home-built airplane on a flatbed, and in the cockpit
with the open hatch was owner Bob Bittner. His "starlight" plane was
promoting the July 26th Southern Minnesota Flying Club's 50th
anniversary. Started in 1958, it's one of the oldest flying clubs in
the U.S.A.
As a kid in the 1930s and '40s I loved those small planes that flew
over our farm 20 miles southeast of Rochester. Seems they were coming
in that air pattern from Madison or La Crosse or maybe Chicago.
Possibly these were WW II training planes, and there were many filling
those skies in the early 1940s.
I can still see them pulling up, cutting the motor and coming down
doing a tailspin. The interest was building for me to go from those
super paper airplanes that flew across the big classroom at District
118. Then dad would occasionally pick up a small model plane kit that
I would spend hours constructing.
I'm sure it came from Main Street in Stewartville at Wilbur Bratrud's
Hardware Store, where later came my BB gun, bat and softball. But
those few model planes put me into another imaginary world. First it
was the Grumman Fighter from Germany followed by an R.A.F. Spitfire.
But the one that really thrilled me was the twin engine P-38 Fighter.
These little planes took hours of patience, and glue. I actually read
the instructions first, something very few of us enjoy doing today.
Several pilots during the years have built their own planes by
starting out in the basement. The problem: how do we get it out? Walt
Halloran, veteran pilot of World War II, told of his basement plane
building when we gathered to do several air shows 1979-82 and again
1987-90. If I remember correctly a basement wall had to be removed.
Many take their planes to Oshkosh, Wis., annually for the Experimental
Aircraft Show. Cindy Macrific, member of the Southern Minnesota Flying
Club, tells me several of the club's 100 members will be flying there
again. I asked her what it costs to join the club, and she replied
$1,000. After I got over the shock, she told me that she buys a share
in one of seven Piper and Cessna planes the club owns. She said the
club has immediate openings for pilots and wanna-be's. She flies a
Piper, one of five ladies in the club. They fly anywhere in the U.S.
from East to West and North to South.
The club's open house July 26th goes 7:30 a.m. until noon and includes
a free fly-in breakfast for pilots. Others will pay $5 for adults and
$4 for kids under 7, all at the Rochester airport.
Belonging to the flying club finds them sometimes washing planes at a
monthly meeting at the airport, followed by a barbecue. Gosh, just
before I started building those planes I hurried home from school to
listen on the radio to "Jimmy Allen and his Flying Machine." Others
listened to "Captain Midnight" sponsored by Ovaltine. There's just
something about those planes, whether seeing a little plane or a
mighty 747 going over, you just can't keep from putting your "eyes to
the skies."
Riding in the Rochesterfest parade, Bob Bittner, an IBM engineer, was
so excited to be chosen by the club as the "person to ride." When I
announced the parade on public address on East Center Street I felt
like I was seeing a bit of that movie "Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise.
But for Bob the cockpit hatch was open, and he was doing the "beauty
queen wave," which you must practice for all parades.
Cindy's husband, Rich, told me he and Cindy will be flying one of the
planes to Oshkosh that week of July 28 to Aug. 3. "Yes, we'll camp
under a wing and prepare for all kinds of weather, hot, windy, cold or
storms. Oshkosh and the E.A.A. show has it all," he said.
The plane in the parade weighs about 800 pounds and was bought to the
parade lineup in pieces and put together quickly. As for the E.A.A. my
memories of that show are by signatures only of the "Eagles" three
pilots who came as the headliners of the Rochester Area Pilots
Association show, July 4, 1980.
The huge promotional poster, now framed on my wall, was signed by Tom
Poberenzy of Hales Corners, Wis., Charlie Hilliard of Fort Worth,
Texas, and Gene Soucy of McKinney, Texas. They had been to the Oshkosh
show and came to Rochester one day for our show. Rochester had seven
air shows from 1979 through 1990 featuring the Air Force Thunderbirds
appearing in both 1988 and 1990 shows.