Area Pilots Enjoyed Fresh Air and New Heights at Claremore Airport Event
Over the weekend, pilots from all over gathered at Claremore Regional Airport for flying practice and community games.
Before the games began, however, a German stunt-pilot based in Bentonville, Arkansas, demonstrated the capabilities of his originally designed proto-type plane with several high-level aerobatic maneuvers.
Philipp Steinbach, owner of Game Composites, created the GB1 GameBird for optimal aerobatic performance after almost 30 years of stunt-flying experience.
“It began with model airplanes when I was 5, and the toys just got bigger,” Steinbach said.
His performance was met with overwhelming applause by the roughly 150 pilots and family members in attendance Saturday.
Families were spaced out across the airfield Saturday as pilots rushed to and from their airplanes for short take-off and landing (STOL) practice, flour bombs, and balloon popping.
Even though it wasn’t a competition, one STOL flyer from Russell, Kansas, was taking it very seriously, with impressively short take-off and landing distances.
Coady Morris said, “I needed an excuse to fly, and this was a good one.”
Morris and his family flew in Friday, camping overnight on a sandbar in the Arkansas River.
He said Claremore’s impromptu STOL practice was one of the more formal events he’s been too.
“Mostly, it’s sandbars, fields and mountaintops,” Morris said.
Many Oklahoma pilots and families were also there, whether flying themselves or enjoying the opportunity to get outside and be around friends.
Event organizer Mike Sisemore said the event was, “a chance for us cooped up pilots to get out and get some fresh air.”
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