Soaring to new heights

PLAINS – Airplanes of all ages will soon spot the sky, as the annual Fly-In Breakfast at the Penn Stohr Field in Plains gets ready to take off.

The event has been ongoing for approximately 20 consecutive years, said Randy Garrison, airport manager.

Last year 29 planes landed at the airport, a number that was down from previous years. In 2008, the fly-in saw approximately 70 planes.

Garrison credited the lack of numbers to the weather they experienced last year. This year, hopes are to beat the 30-mark.

“If the weather is good we should have 30 plus airplanes. The weather is the key factor,” Garrison said.

For now, weather predictions sit close to 80 degrees for Saturday; something that hopefully will remain that way.

“It’s Montana. Anything can happen,” Garrison said.

The planning began a few months ago and this year two new contests will debut. There will be a landing contest as well as a flour drop contest.

The goal of the landing contest is to get as close to the ribbon spanning the landing strip as possible. The plane that lands the closest to the ribbon, without passing it, will win a prize for their accuracy.

There will also be a flour drop contest where pilots will attempt to drop a bag of flour onto a target.

Gift certificates and other aviation related items will be given out as prizes.

The event typically draws from all over the region.

“(The pilots) are typically from all over western Montana, northern Idaho and eastern Washington,” Garrison said. “There’s quite a variety. Everything from vintage, old antiques to home built to brand new aircrafts.”

The money raised from the Fly-In Breakfast will go towards the Plains-Paradise Chamber of Commerce and will be used primarily for community service type projects.

According to Garrison, in the past the chamber used the money to help build the airport.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 21.