General Aviation
Day at Paine Field attracted more than 2,500 visitors, drawn by scores
of military and civilian aircraft on display and a "reunion" gathering
for former military and civilian personnel who worked at the airfield
since it was built in 1936.
"It was a lot of
work but really fun," said Stephanie Allen, past president of the Paine
Field chapter of the Washington Pilots Association and the organizer for
the May 21 event. "Around 270 young people got flights with the Young
Eagles program, and 21 vendors raised funds for charitable causes, including
the Taste of Mukilteo tent, where there were 15 restaurants providing
food. They even sold out early."
Allen said more than
500 pancake breakfasts were prepared by Paine Field firefighters
for a $4 donation each to raise money for the Northwest Burn Foundation.
Airport Manager Dave
Waggoner said the event was "the best one ever" during the past decade
that the General Aviation Day has been featured there, crediting the WPA
with doing "the lion's share of preparation for the event."
One of the biggest
attractions was the display of historic Paine Field photos in one of the
corporate hangars. Scores of people who had served or worked at the airport
in both military and civilian roles wandered through the hangar looking
at aging photos of the base buildings and rows of P-38 Lightnings that
were once based there.
One visitor to the
reunion, Cliff Hudson, 86, of Everett, looked over the photos and recalled
when he served at the base in 1942, the year the Army first made it a
military airfield, sending in P-40s and then P-38s.
"I remember the day
one of the P-38 pilots raised his landing gear too soon in a turn. The
propeller hit the ground, and the plane wiped out 25 feet of our mess
hall, killing two soldiers who had gone there early for their meal. It
ended up with its tail room up in the air and the nose against the storage
room," Hudson said.
Other photos showed
the F-102 Delta Dagger interceptors of the 1960s, the decade when the
airfield transitioned from its military role to a fully civilian role.
It was in the middle part of that decade when the last of the fighter
planes left and the new Boeing plant at the north end of the airfield
began taking shape for production of the first 747 airliners.
Visitors had an opportunity
to look ahead to Paine Field's future as well as remember its past. A
new video display showed the design of the interior of the new Future
of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour facility being built at the
northwest corner of the airfield. Due to open early in October, it will
tell the story of modern airliners and display the next generation of
technology being developed for the new Boeing 787 being built at the Everett
plant and for other airliners of the future.
Also, Everett Community
College offered tours of its maintenance technician training facility,
and pilots of both private and military aircraft spent their day chatting
with visitors about their aircraft and Paine Field's historic aviation
roles in the Pacific Northwest.
Sponsors of the event
included the Everett Jet Center, Regal Air, Everett Community College,
Norman Aviation Services Inc., Cannon Interiors and CAI Avionics, Civil
Air Patrol, Future of Flight Foundation, Seattle Avionics Software, Food
Emporium, Northway Aviation, Skycorp and Northwest School of Aviation.
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