Planes and pancakes
Fly-in draws 1,000 to HumboldtBy ANGELA BURCH, Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
HUMBOLDT - You think gas prices are high - try $6 per gallon in a 30-gallon tank.
It's an expensive hobby, but for the pilots who flew in to the Humboldt Rotary Club's eighth annual fly-in breakfast Sunday morning, it was worth the trip.
The fly-in drew about 1,000 people to the Humboldt Municipal Airport for a pancake breakfast and a chance to get close to airplanes. There were approximately 80 airplanes and one helicopter that flew in from all across Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. This year, there were more than 120 people who took the chance to ride in one of the planes, he said.
Spending the morning eating pancakes and watching planes fly in and out of the area brought people of every age to the airport.
Humboldt residents Phyllis McElrath and Char Westphal make a point to come out every year.
"We came down for the meal and see what the planes are doing," Westphal said.
McElrath said the event improves each year.
Cory Peterson, of Humboldt, brought his sons Carter, 7, and Liam, 4, and niece Kenzie Ross,10, down for the show. Ross has taken a plane ride before, but for the Peterson boys it was going to be their first ride. Nerves aside, they were both excited about the flight.
For the McCartans, flying is a family thing.
Beth and Gary McCartan and son Aaron, all of Pocahontas, were more than happy to fly in for the event.
Aaron McCartan's one-seater plane is specifically designed for aerobatics. Aerobatics includes loops, rolls, dives and other spectacular in-flight feats - or tricks - performed while maintaining perfect lines in the sky, he said.
He flies all across the Midwest competing in events. "It takes an immense amount of practice to fly this," he said. Last year he was second in the nation in the primary division. This year he flies in the sportsman division, which is the next step up from the primary.
However, there are some less glamorous aspects to flying planes.
"It's a very expensive hobby," Aaron McCartan said. "It's $150 to fill it up and I could do that a couple times a day if I practice a lot."
Airplanes run on aviation fuel that has a much higher octane and runs leaded, he said. That fuel can only be purchased at airports.
Beth McCartan has been flying for 21 years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. She and Gary McCartan use the family's six planes for business and pleasure. They make it a point to be at the fly-in each year.
"This town supports the breakfast better than any town we go to," said Gary McCartan. They usually fly to about 20 a year, he said.
Aaron McCartan's four-year-old daughter Readan McCartan is no stranger to the planes.
"She loves flying and has no problem getting right up to the controls," Beth McCartan said.
Although it could be easy to get distracted, the crowds lined up for the food proved the event wasn't just about the airplanes.
With 1,000 mouths to feed, the donations and support from other community organizations were crucial, said Harold Grebe, secretary of the Humboldt Rotary Club.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans helped supplement some of the money. Hy-Vee, Fareway and Sparboe Farms donated food for the event. The Humboldt volunteer firefighters spent their morning cooking.
With 240 dozen eggs, 3,000 pancakes and 140 pounds of sausage, this was no small meal. Volunteer firefighter Jim Gronbach, organized his seven volunteers to make sure the food was ready to feed the masses.
"We have a lot of fun doing it. It's nice to see this many people come out," he said.
The money raised from the fundraiser goes right back to Humboldt.
"It is a wonderful thing that they have," said Walter Jensen, mayor of Humboldt. "It benefits the community all the way around."
This year's money will go to help with the renovations of the ballfield at Taft Park.
"They're redoing the outfield fence and the ball diamond," Grebe said.
Doug Spencer, immediate past president of the Rotary Club, said in the eight years they have had the fly-in breakfast, there has never been a drop of rain. To have perfect weather and a good turn-out was reason enough for the event to be considered a success, he said.
Retired Wright County Sheriff Merril Rasmussen came down with his son Rod and grandson Steven from Goldfield to see the planes.
Merril Rasmussen started flying in 1961 and his son Rod got him back into the hobby after his break from the skies. Steven Rasmussen sticks with flying simulators. But for the other two, flying is in their blood.
"It's the most peaceful adrenaline rush you can have," Steven Rasmussen said.
Contact Angela Burch at 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net
