by Paul Uhlig » Wed May 08, 2013 11:17 pm
Very nice Mark. Even though I live in Kansas I will be working that weekend and won't be able to come up. But if you are making your way up from the south and would like a good place to refuel your airplane and yourself, consider 1K1, Stearman Field just northeast of Wichita. There is a good aviation restaurant on the field and most days the pattern will have something fun happening. There are about seven Stearman biplanes on the field, several Pitts Specials, plenty of tailwheels and a lot of great people. There is a grass landing area just to the west of the paved runway. Also, a really fascinating airfield is in Halstead, Kansas, about 35 miles northwest ofWichta, 20 miles directly west of EWK, Newton, KS. Landing on the grass and walking into that hangar is like going seventy years back in time. The airport was run for years by Gus Wiebe, who was known far and wide as THE wood aircraft guru until his death last year in his 80s. Gus and his sons would drive every year or so to the Pacific Northwest and buy Sitaka Spruce that they trailered home and milled in the hangar. They heated the hangar with scraps they burned in a homemade wood burning stove. The spars for my Hatz came from Gus' last trip. Every year in June, including last year, Gus and his sons celebrated his 65th birthday with a barbeque, fly in and airport party. I think he had about eighteen 65th birthday parties. It was an amazing tradition and they are a wonderful family. His son, Mark, is a great mechanic and IA who continues the tradition of running the airfield. You would enjoy stopping.
Paul Uhlig
Very nice Mark. Even though I live in Kansas I will be working that weekend and won't be able to come up. But if you are making your way up from the south and would like a good place to refuel your airplane and yourself, consider 1K1, Stearman Field just northeast of Wichita. There is a good aviation restaurant on the field and most days the pattern will have something fun happening. There are about seven Stearman biplanes on the field, several Pitts Specials, plenty of tailwheels and a lot of great people. There is a grass landing area just to the west of the paved runway. Also, a really fascinating airfield is in Halstead, Kansas, about 35 miles northwest ofWichta, 20 miles directly west of EWK, Newton, KS. Landing on the grass and walking into that hangar is like going seventy years back in time. The airport was run for years by Gus Wiebe, who was known far and wide as THE wood aircraft guru until his death last year in his 80s. Gus and his sons would drive every year or so to the Pacific Northwest and buy Sitaka Spruce that they trailered home and milled in the hangar. They heated the hangar with scraps they burned in a homemade wood burning stove. The spars for my Hatz came from Gus' last trip. Every year in June, including last year, Gus and his sons celebrated his 65th birthday with a barbeque, fly in and airport party. I think he had about eighteen 65th birthday parties. It was an amazing tradition and they are a wonderful family. His son, Mark, is a great mechanic and IA who continues the tradition of running the airfield. You would enjoy stopping.
Paul Uhlig