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Warbirds to participate in Fly-In at Barnes Airport

The Navion aircraft of the EAA Warbirds Squadron Seven Reminder Publications submitted photo
By Katelyn Gendron-List

Staff Writer



WESTFIELD The beautifully restored and highly coveted historic Warbirds of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will be flying-in for the first Pioneer Valley Military & Transportation Museum (P.V.M.T.M.) Fly-In this week.

On July 21, at 11 a.m., the EAA Warbirds of America Squadron Seven out of Boston will be flying in, bringing their fully restored ex-military aircrafts into Barnes Municipal Airport. Civilian aircrafts that can land at the airport are also welcomed to participate in the Fly-In, according to Sue Chase, president of P.V.M.T.M.

"This is a great opportunity for people to come to the museum site and talk to the board members and other members [of the P.V.M.T.M.] about what we plan to do and to see the items that we have up now," Leo Dube, a board director of the P.V.M.T.M., said.

The Warbirds of America Squadron Seven will be flying-in five or six planes in order to participate in the event, according to Thomas Schinkel, commander of the Warbirds of America Squadron Seven said.

Schinkel flies a Navion aircraft, a reconnaissance plane that served in the Air Force during the late 1940s and during the Korean War. His squadron flies Navions painted in the military colors of the Air Force, Army and Navy, Schinkel added. These planes seat four people and have engine strength of 185 to 300 horsepower and have a cruising speed of 155 to 185 mph.

"My squadron does this all of the time as we participate in six or seven fly-ins and fly-overs for veterans every year," Schinkel said. "This is an important event to me because what makes me excited about these old planes is how well they were built. They were built without computers as the engineers were working with slide rules."

Schinkel went on to add that he has flown many different types of planes within this class category but he enjoys flying the Navion aircraft because it is the safest, sturdiest and most fun to fly.

The aircrafts will be parked by the fence on Airport Road so that passersby may see them, Chase said.

Currently the museum does not have a display building, according to Chase, but while this is primarily an educational event, any additional funds raised will go to erecting the fence that surrounds their property. The P.V.M.T.M. has leased eight acres of land from Barnes Airport and the city of Westfield. The Department of Homeland Security requires that a fence be built in order to separate the areas and only then can the museum display buildings be built, Chase stated.

However there are still items on display outside that those participating the in Fly-In will be able to view, Dube stated. The P.V.M.T.M., owns a Polish Antonov AN-2 aircraft, a M59 armored personnel carrier from 1953, and a deuce-and-a-half-truck. Other vehicles have been borrowed and are also on display.

Eventually, when the museum is constructed it will feature various aspects of transportation, Harland Avezzie, vice president of the P.V.M.T.M., and member of the EAA Warbirds said.

"We will have antique cars and everything that represents transportation from roller skates to the space shuttle if we could get it," Avezzie said. "We would like all of the transportation [vehicles] to be workable. We want the skates to be skateable, the bikes to be rideable and the cars to be runable."

Currently phases of the building plans have been organized and the total cost of the design building is being compiled, Avezzie added. However the first step is ultimately the erection of the fence and later the display building.

Avezzie will also be on hand the day of the Fly-In as he will be flying his Fairchild PT 23 aircraft into Barnes Airport. This plane was used as a World War II army trainer, Avezzie stated.

"I found this plane in a barn in Somers, Conn., in 1982," Avezzie said. "It took me four years and $4,000 to restore it and I've been flying it for 18 years now."

All are encouraged to come out to this event, Chase stated. There will be refreshments and a cookout of hamburgers, hotdogs and corn.

"We want to have this event in order for people to find out what's going on in the area," Chase said. "We want people to know that if they help support us we will have a beautiful transportation museum for the local community."

However entrance to the Fly-In is only to members of the EAA Warbirds and members of the P.V.M.T.M. But all those who wish to participate in the Fly-In may become members of the P.V.M.T.M., that day for a $20 annual fee.

The event is free to EAA Warbird members and the cost is $5 each for P.V.M.T.M. members.

All those that wish to drive to the event must go to Gate 12 and will be let into the Fly-In by a member of the P.V.M.T.M.

The rain date for the Fly-In is scheduled for July 22 at 11 a.m.

For more information about the P.V.M.T.M., go to www.pvmtm.org.