Our friends in Colorado may have gotten 14 inches of snow this week, but that will not stop the fly-in season from providing everything from a Texas hot air balloon fest to a T-6 gathering in Torrance, Calif. – all reported on SocialFlight. On Saturday, May 16, Thompson Field, Van Zandt County, Texas, will be the site of what is modestly advertised as a hot air balloon fest; however, it looks to us to be a full-blown airport extravaganza including airplane rides, a car show, food and a balloon glow at dusk (as dispassionate, objective reporters of aviation events, we nevertheless note that a group of hot air balloons, situated on the ground, with the pilots periodically igniting the burners to cause the 80-foot-tall envelope to glow, is quite a spectacle). The event is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; admission is free, but there is a parking fee if you drive in rather than fly in. You want spring? That means real maple syrup – fly in to Dansville, New York Municipal Airport this Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and noon for their Pancake Breakfast and Dogwood Festival. They promise real maple syrup, sausages, eggs and beverages and a free breakfast for essential flight crew for aircraft that rolled off the assembly line in 1945 or earlier.
The Idaho Aviation Association is not only holding its annual meeting, it’s sponsoring the Fourth Annual Idaho Aviation Expo at the Idaho Falls Airport on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It will feature new and vintage aircraft, parts, avionics, clubs, associations, workshops, speakers and “all things aviation related.” Finally, at Zamparia Airport in Torrance, Calif., in conjunction with the City of Torrance’s Armed Forces Weekend, the Western Museum of Flight will be displaying and arranging rides in an SNJ/T-6/Harvard in advance of the afternoon parade flyovers. Things will be happening from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday the 18th. Our thanks to SocialFlightfor keeping us up to date on aviation events.
