A colorful display of “War Birds and Classics,” coupled with free first flights for students, will mark Armed Forces Day on Saturday, May 15, at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport.
The “Fly-In Show” is designed to expand activities and interest at the Wings Over Miami Air Museum, located at the far western tip of the SW 128th Street entrance road serving the general aviation airfield off SW 137th Avenue.
Pilots from throughout Florida will arrive in a continuing parade of landings and takeoffs to exhibit a variety of aircraft types that also will be parked and examined on the tarmac area near the museum’s hangar that houses its permanent aviation exhibits.
Foreign exotics like the Russianmade Yakovlev (YAK-52), owned by Fred Schafly, a director at the museum, also will be on display, along with a Navy SNJ advanced trainer with a World War II-styled Miss America decorating its nose.
A special “Young Eagles Program” will offer free first flights for students, ages 8-17, with advance reservations accepted by email at < youngeagles620@aol.com >.
Yale Mosk, who displays his own twoseater biplane, emblematic of “barnstorming” pilots of the early 20th Century, directs the student program as president of the Tamiami Experimental Aircraft Association.
The Fly-in Show provides an opportunity for Florida and other U.S. pilots to park and display their flown-in planes, much like car shows with vintage automobiles. Pilots will be available for visits and explanations about their aircraft.
“Preparation for the Fly-In is a community effort,” said Suzette Rice, a volunteer publicist who credits assistance from Miami-Dade College aviation students, Civil Air Patrol members, the Sapere Group non-profit business organization, Experimental Aircraft Association 620 and West Kendall Business Association. Show vendors may contact Rice at 305-323-9995 for information.
The program is the first of a series planned in 2010 by museum chair William “Bill” Walker and a board of directors that has inaugurated a “Friday Night at the Museum” series, which kicked off on Apr. 9 with a reenactment of a WWII military pilots’ briefing.
Both the display and admittance to the museum are combined in a single admission for the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at $10, adult, and $5, child under age 12.
Annual museum family memberships are $40 for unlimited visits to shows at Wings Over Miami, a tribute to veterans and aviators who pioneered both military and civilian aircraft. For details, visit online at < www.wingsovermiami.com > or call 305- 233-5197.
