Thousands of guests descended Saturday on the Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport for the 11th annual Fly-in and Community Day.
Children and parents took flight with local pilots on private planes throughout the day at the airport, located in Guthrie off of Division Street.
Classic cars, Guthrie’s fire truck and Guthrie’s police SWAT truck all were part of the event, along with food trucks, and the war planes and jets on the runway, of course.
Rare vehicles, like a yellow 1985 Pulse Autocycle were displayed. The autocycle looks like a small plane, despite being a car, and was designed by famous aeronautical engineer Jim Bede, creator of James Bond’s Silver Bullet BD-5 Microjet.
“We don’t always get to have everybody come out to the airport because it needs to be safe and secure,” said on-site mechanic Toby Baker while checking out the planes with his son.
Tied in to Saturday’s event was more news on plans for constructing a restaurant at the Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport, where millions of dollars have been proposed from the U.S. House of Representatives for a new terminal.
“Construction on the new terminal will probably kick off in the next 18 months or so,” City Manager Eddie Faulkner said.
The new terminal will be built south of the runway and will feature additional lobby space, 24-hour pilot lounges and a new restaurant to increase airport attraction, while also adding to Guthrie’s vast tourism industry.
“The fly-in is just a great opportunity to try and inspire the next generation to get interested in aviation,” Baker said.
In the 1960’s and ‘70’s, thousands of Vietnam War pilots and engineers returned to the United States. Those veterans provided for a considerable amount of the aviation industry for many years after. However, those pilots were eventually forced to retire due to the country’s forced commercial airline retirement age of 65. As they aged, worker deficits and recruitment have been the new challenges facing the industry.
“It’s not just a pilot thing. Pilots, aircraft mechanics and air traffic controllers are all jobs that have shortages right now,” airport director Caden Young said. “There’s so many different careers available to young people. Sparking that interest is what this event is all about.”
For those who want to learn how to fly, the Guthrie-Edmond airport has a flight school. Call 405-282-2312 for more information.