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Vintage Staggerwings, Aeroncas, and Stinsons fly in to Minden Fly-in
by Mike Gintzler

The runway had a slight rise in it, so from where I was standing I couldn’t see the aircraft that was starting. But I could certainly hear it; I knew it was one of the big radial-engine planes. The sound volume increased as the pilot advanced the throttle. The plane would be moving by now.

Then it came into view. It was one of the Stearmans, a bright red bi-plane with two open cockpits, front and back. In a moment, it was passing me, its tail off the ground, its massive engine thundering. As it passed, it broke ground and pulled up into a hard, climbing turn. It angled around the airport, then dropped into a dive and came roaring back down the runway, waving its wings in farewell to the appreciative crowd before it departed.

The Stearman, a WWII-era military trainer, was just one of more than 70 rare and unusual antique aircraft that were at the 28th Annual Antique Aircraft Association Fly-in that took place at the Minden Airport in August.

For those not familiar with the term, a “fly-in” is an event where pilots and their airplanes fly in to a particular airport to visit, swap stories, gather information, and generally revel in their love of flying and related hobbies.

The fly-in season in Nebraska runs from roughly April through September. Different organizations, airports or municipalities will plan and sponsor the event. The Antique Aircraft Association Fly-in, which takes place in Minden every year, is one of the few multi-day fly-ins in Nebraska. Most fly-ins are one day or even one-morning affairs.

I flew over Minden at 3:00 in the afternoon on Friday, expecting to be one of the first to be there. I was pleasantly surprised to see two dozen planes already parked there — a good sign, since the main day of the fly-in was Saturday, when most planes arrive.

The featured attraction Friday evening was a cream-can supper, provided and prepared by members of the Minden Airport Authority. Five-gallon cream cans filled with meats and vegetables are slow-cooked over burners, then poured into what is literally a six-foot-long trough. Pilots, their passengers and people from town file down both sides, filling their plates with sausage, potatoes, cabbage, corn on the cob, carrots and onions all cooked together. Tables and benches had been set up in the hangar for the dinner and the breakfast that would be served the following morning.

Saturday was cloudy and overcast early, and only a few additional planes came in for the traditional pancake and sausage breakfast served at fly-ins, this one provided by members of the Kearney Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. But by 11:00 o’clock, the skies had cleared to a deep Nebraska blue and planes began arriving steadily, often more than one in the landing pattern at a time.

Beautifully painted and polished, rare and remarkable aircraft — the kind that are not usually seen at the average airport — touched down, one after another on the long runway. A beautiful Beech Staggerwing, a Howard DGA (one of only 53 known to still be flying), a Fairchild 24 (one of less than 100), and an Aero Commander Darter (about 180 still on the federal registry) were among the arrivals. Many others, not quite so rare but still in diminishing numbers as many had been built in the 1950s or earlier, included several “short wing” Pipers (Pacers, Tri-Pacers, Vagabonds and Colts) three Cessna 195s and the usual collection of vintage Aeroncas, T-Craft and Stinsons.

The main activity Saturday, as always, is “walking the line” – not ala Johnny Cash, but just strolling up and down the rows of lined-up aircraft, talking to their pilots, learning about the planes and their histories. This is the heart of the fly-in, becoming acquainted with other pilots in the area, talking about engines, instruments and landing gear, and reminiscing about past flying experiences or planning future trips.

Since the Antique Aircraft Association is a national organization, this fly-in attracted planes from Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa as well as Nebraska. There are always “regulars”, those who show up every year, and always some newcomers. An oddity of the gathering is that while we don’t always know each other’s names, we often recognize each other’s aircraft – especially the distinctive ones.

Another feature of the Minden fly-in that you don’t always see at one-day events are the overnight campers who pitch a tent under their wing and spend the night on the field with their airplanes.

The final event of a fly-in is always the awards banquet. When pilots register for the event, they indicate whether or not they want to have their planes included in the judging, but even if they don’t, awards are given for the youngest pilot, the oldest pilot and the pilot who had come the greatest distance to be there.

I’ve been a pilot for 47 years now, often in contention for oldest pilot, and probably attend an average of four fly-ins a year. I’ve met hundreds of people from all over the United States this way and become familiar with dozens of different aircraft. This was one of the best fly-ins I’ve ever attended, and while it will be hard to top, you can bet the Antique Aircraft Association will be at Minden next year, trying to make it even better.

Now mostly retired,. Mike Gintzler was a professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska, Kearney. He lives near Funk with three dogs, two horses and a flock of chickens and keeps his plane at Holdrege’s Brewster Field.

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