In the Loop - Chapter chapter IAC chapter 88

 

N96HH a Big Hit at the Selfridge AFB Airshow and Open House

By IAC chapter 88 President, Hugo Ritzenthaler

During the recent Selfridge ANG Base “Open House and Airshow”, Chapter 88 had an opportunity to promote IAC and the chapter’s activities and events. I had established contact with the base early in the year to obtain permission to fly my Pitts onto the base to be part of the static display line-up of specialty aircraft. The Senior Master Sergent I worked with to process the landing permit was very accommodating and secured a parking space under the open A-10 shed. It was a short flight of about 6 minutes from my home base D98 but a 15-minute plus taxiing down the 9,000 ft runway to my parking spot.

After a long drive and hours waiting in line to get onto the base, Laura and Wayne Buescher joined me at my station. A big thank you for making the trip all the way from Canton. From the onset of the opening of the gate, visitors and families with children were attracted to the Pitts. It took all three of us to manage the crowd, answering questions about the airplane and the IAC organization as well as letting children sit in the cockpit of my Pitts. While Laura and Wayne handled the promotion of the chapter and scheduled events, I had the pleasure of lifting close to 100 children in and out of the Pitts for a photo session with their parents. The youngest of them seemed to have been born just a few weeks back. 

It was a perfect event to promote the upcoming International Aerobatics Day at Romeo State Airport. With Romeo being relatively close to Selfridge, many visitors were from the surrounding area and showed great interest in attending the Aerobatics Day celebration. Laura and Wayne explained what to expect and handed out special invitations that included the program for the Aerobatics Day and the Michigan Open Aerobatic Championship scheduled for early July.

We also welcomed members and former members of Chapter 88: Chapter member Gunter Niederbacher toured the show with one of his friends, Scott Gusakov, a former chapter member and competitor was on site flying the L-39 jet in the airshow.

IAC Chapter 88 website: https://chapters.eaa.org/iac88

IAC Chapter 88 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iac88