Felts Field Will Be Buzzing This Weekend

Tue., Aug. 4, 1998

By Nina Culver nculver47@gmail.com

Whether you like to fly or just like planes, Spokane’s Felts Field is the place to be Saturday and Sunday. The small airport will be buzzing with activity —and airplanes — as scores of pilots and planes gather for the 1998 Jim Kieran Aviation Festival.

Events get started with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. Saturday. Cost is $4.50. Pilots participating in a Mystery Derby take off at 11 a.m. Pilots in the derby fly a route looking for clues to the mystery.

A variety of historical and experimental planes will be on display during the festival. Visitors can buy a $2 raffle tickets to win a ride in a WWII warbird. Forty free flights will be given away each day to kids ages 8 to 16. The Planetary Society will have its Red Rover exhibit on hand, a replica of the vehicle traveling to Mars in 2000. Representatives from various aviation programs will also be available to talk with.

Several seminars are also scheduled. Topics include IFR (instrument flight rules) for the general aviation pilot, know your sectional and WAC (world aeronautical chart), review of flight instruments, radar services available to the private pilot, and weather.

Lectures are also scheduled during the festival. Lt. Col. Jon Morrow, the Air Force liaison to the Federal Aviation Administration, will speak on issues dealing with airspace.

Ellen Paneok, an FAA inspector based in Anchorage, Alaska, will talk about her experiences flying over the Alaskan wilderness. Robert Friedman, a flight test engineer for Boeing in Seattle, will speak about the Boeing automatic landing system.

A lecture on the history of Felts Field will also be presented. Exact locations and times will be listed in festival programs available at the gate.

The highlight of the event is the awards dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Custom Aviation Hangar. Retired Brig. Gen. Robert Stewart, a NASA astronaut from 1978 to 1987, is the keynote speaker. Stewart will also attend the 5 p.m. cocktail hour in the hangar.

The cost of the dinner is $23. Advance registration is requested. To reserve a spot, call Valleta O’Day at (208) 664-3177.

Felts Field is located at 6423 Rutter Ave. Admission to the festival is free.

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