Majors Field Breakfast Fly-In - 05 November 2016

View a slideshow of ALL of the pictures (210) taken at the Breakfast Fly-In: Breakfast Fly-In Slideshow

As you can see from the pictures, the Majors Field Breakfast Fly-In that was held on Saturday, November 5, 2016 was a success by any measure. The weather was not ideal but that did not discourage over two-hundred (200) people from attending the event. The event was well attended by local Greenville residents who chose to drive to the event as well as general aviation pilots from fourteen (14) local airports and one from the Mojave desert. We had three WWII aircraft including the Vultee BT-15, the PT-17 Stearman, and the Stinson L-5 on the ramp as static displays thanks to the Lancaster wing of the Commemorative Air Force, the one of a kind Model 81 Catbird from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California flown in by Zach Reeder, Chuck Weese's O-1 Bird Dog, Innovation First's Bombardier Challenger 600, and Mark's beautiful and hard to miss, bright green ultralight. As you can see from the pictures, those planes generated quite a bit of foot traffic.

A breakfast of pancakes, sausage patties, bacon, fruit, mini-muffins, doughnuts, kolaches, coffee, orange juice, and water was provided. The breakfast must have been okay as we did not throw away a single bit of food. More than 400 pancakes, 300 sausage patties, 288 strips of bacon, a bucket of grapes, strawberries, and pineapple, three dozen doughnuts, two dozen kolaches, 240 cups of coffee, 8 gallons of orange juice, and 40 bottles of water was consumed. It was a pleasure not to have to deal with leftovers.

There were several highlights of the day including the beautiful aircraft on display and the transient airplanes that were flown in by pilots from local airports. It looked a bit like a Van's RV club decided to have a meeting at Majors Field. The airplanes were the big draw but take a look at the photographs to see how many families with young children attended. Now that was special. They provided quite a bit of energy to the event. It was good to see friends from the WWII era at the event as well. But wait, there's more.

The Majors Field General Aviation Manager, Ty Helton, did an amazing job working with the City of Greenville and the local merchants to make this event a success. As you can see from the donor and sponsor boards, the event was enthusiastically supported by local business. Thanks to the support from our generous donors and sponsors, Mr. Helton worked the microphone for a couple of hours raffling off car rentals, hotel rooms, rounds of golf, tee shirts, coffee cups, restaurant gift cards, and other items donated by these generous sponsors. He even had a couple of rides in the Majors Flying Club Cessna to raffle off as well as a ride in the PT-17 Stearman!

Thanks to the City of Greenville for recognizing the value an event like this can bring to the city. Fly-in's are successful if they have food, old airplanes, and cheap gas. We supplied the first item but the City of Greenville came through with discounted 100LL fuel (and you can be sure that had a positive effect on the number of folks who flew into Majors Field on Saturday, November 5th especially considering the weather) as well as the funding for the Lancaster CAF appearance fees. The hope is that through events like this people will fly back to Majors Field, grab the airport courtesy car, and use the prizes they won to play that round of golf, have a meal at one of the local restaurants, or catch a show at the theater.

It was a fun event and very satisfying for the folks who worked to put the event together to see the enthusiasm for the event, the response from the local community, the support of the local merchants, the response from so many local airports, and the support from the City of Greenville.