Airport welcomes pilots to annual picnic

The Red Oak Municipal Airport once again invited pilots from all over the country to its annual flight picnic on Aug. 26.
The annual event is held in conjunction with the Blakesburg Annual Fly-In held in Blakesburg each year during the Labor Day weekend. Attendees were also able to check out the antique and classic airplanes on display around the airport terminal during the event and enjoy a meal and entertainment provided by airport staff.
Ami Eckard-Lee of Brodhead, Wis. was one of the guests at the event. She’s the collections manager at the Kelch Aviation Museum in Brodhead. Eckard-Lee said this isn’t her first visit to Red Oak.
“I’m doing my flight training here in Iowa, near Red Oak. In order to get your license, you have to practice doing cross-country flights. That doesn’t necessarily mean you cross the whole country, it just means you have to go to a different airport than where you started.  I’ve been doing flight training in Bedford, and I flew here to practice a couple years ago. I’m actually here today because I was practicing,” Eckard-Lee said.
Eckard-Lee also says she became interested in flying when she was a child, and the interest kept growing from there.
“I grew up in a town where there’s a very famous vintage airport, but I didn’t really know it was unique. Also, I really love history, specifically history from the ̓20s and ̓30s. I started volunteering at the Kelch Aviation Museum, as it focused on the ̓20s and ̓30s. I’ve been working there now for seven years, and it’s turned into this whole thing. You can’t work at a vintage airplane museum without flying also,” Eckard-Lee explained. “I’ve met a lot of really cool people and seen a lot of cool airplanes and learned a lot of history, and it’s very fun to do it in a historic way, so that’s what I’m doing.”
Eckard-Lee said that she learned about the annual picnic from Red Oak residents Chad and Mandy Hill, and was excited to attend this year. While she ordinarily makes a six-hour drive down to the area for her flying lessons, this year was a little different.
“Since I’ve practiced flying, it made sense that I just fly over. This was actually my first time flying to a fly-in, as well as being my first time kind of flying to a public event. “I knew there were all these people watching, so that was a little scary, and I was a little nervous since I don’t have a radio in the plane I’m flying,” stated Eckard-Lee. “This was also my first time landing at a place where there might be other people landing without a radio, but as it turned out, nobody was flying at the Red Oak Airport when I was flying in, so it actually wasn’t as scary as I was worried it would be.”
Eckard-Lee added it’s a fun experience to be able to be a part of the picnic, as the airport is so welcoming to the visiting pilots. She also said a lot of people stopped by to check out her vintage aircraft. 
“There’s only nine, as far as I know, that still fly, so I’m very excited that it hasn’t been out in public in years. The plane I’m flying is a 1931 Curtis Wright Jr. And it’s unique for many reasons. Visually, the obvious one is that the propeller is on the back of the wing. It’s what we call a pusher airplane. That also means that in order to help counteract the balance of that heavy engine back there and the heavy long tail, the pilot sits up front. In most of these other airplanes, the pilot sits in the back, so the visibility is amazing,” commented Eckard-Lee. “I describe it to people as like being in a canoe in the sky. There are some challenges to learning to fly or just flying it. You can’t see your wings very easily, there are certain things you can’t feel as easily, but this is what I learned to fly in and it’s the only thing I know how to fly. At this point, I can’t really tell if it’s much harder than another airplane, it’s just normal to me.”
After she masters the Curtis Wright Jr., Eckard-Lee said she hasn’t ruled out expanding her experience to other planes.
“I will continue to fly planes, but only old fashioned ones. Back in Wisconsin at the museum, there’s a lot of vintage airplanes. I own part of a 1929 biplane, so I have to learn to fly that, but that’s a very different airplane to fly. I’m a little overwhelmed by that. This one’s small and manageable. It’s not very aerodynamic, and it does not go very fast, but I’m not trying to get somewhere. I’m just trying to enjoy it, which I do.”
Eckard-Lee flew the plane back to Bedford after the picnic, and said she was not going to be able to attend the Blakesburg event, because there is an event this week in Brodhead and she will be running the museum. She said she’s hopeful she’ll be able to fly in to the next Red Oak Airport picnic in 2026. Eckard-Lee also urged people to try flying themselves.
“I feel like people don’t know that aviation is accessible. Like, it’s not only for the wealthy, anyone can do it. If people are curious, they should come to the airport, especially an airport like the one here in Red Oak. You can just come and learn stuff and ask people questions, and every pilot you talk to wants to tell you about their airplane and show you what it’s like. So if you’re interested, go for it,” advised Eckard-Lee.