Preparations are in full swing at Grider Field Pine Bluff Municipal Airport for the Black Pilots of America Fly-in, May 25-27.
May is one of the busiest months of the year for the airport because of the annual event, known as “Operation Skyhook,” Airport Manager Doug Hale told the Pine Bluff Aviation Commission. Black Pilots of America members from across the nation will fly into Pine Bluff to hold the gathering, which is the biggest annual event for both the club and the airport.
The event will feature static displays of military airplanes, including a Bell OH-58 and T-45 Texan. There will be free flights for children, and the club members will compete against each other in aerial games of skill.
The featured guest speaker will be two-star general Major General John H. Bailey II.
The Grider Field Restaurant will be open for lunch during the fly-in.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
More information is available on the BPA website, www.bpapilots.org.
The full schedule is:
Friday, May 25
• 9 a.m. — Registration opens at Grider Field and there will be a welcoming ceremony by the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber Of Commerce Red Coats
• 9:30 a.m. — Pilot/judges briefings
• 10 a.m. — “Flour Bomb Drop” aviation competition
• 3 p.m. or upon the completion of the competition — Free airplane rides for youth
• 7 p.m. — Fish fry for club members at the Waterfront Building in Regional Park
Saturday, May
• 9 a.m. — Registration at Grider Field and pilots/judges briefing
• 10 a.m. — Pilot proficiency and formation competitions and the Pine Bluff Youth Aviation Science Challenge competition for area high school students
• 3 p.m. or upon the completion of the competition — Free airplane rides for youth
Sunday, May
• 9 a.m. — Registration opens at Grider Field and pilot/judges briefings
• 10 a.m. — “Balloon Bursting” and “Spot Landing” aviation competitions
• 3 p.m. or upon the completion of the competition — Free airplane rides for youth
• 6:30 p.m. — Awards banquet for club members at Harbor Oaks Resort
In other business, the commission at its monthly meeting Thursday:
• Voted to advertise for bids for a project to resurface the taxiways at the airport so that the bid results will be ready for the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics meeting in July. Because of changes in the availability of federal funding for such projects, it is unclear if the project can get 100 percent grant funding as it would have in the past. But the commission elected to have the bids ready for the ADA so that the airport can take advantage of whatever funding turns out to be available once the ADA decides how much funding they will offer for such projects. The airport runway was resurfaced in summer 2011.
• Authorized Hale to replace the broken grease trap for the airport terminal restaurant facilities for about $4,000.
• Said goodbye to Commissioner Dr. Clarence Rittelmeyer, whose five-year term on the commission ended Thursday. Rittelmeyer said it had been a pleasure to serve with the commissioners and to work with Hale. The commissioners and Hale thanked him for his service.
• And heard from Greg Gustek, director of the Pine Bluff Convention and Visitors Bureau, who encouraged the commission to establish a museum at the airport about Grider Field’s World War II history as an aviation training facility.