Fly-in

Spring 2019 Fly-in

Kool times in Kalamazoo!
Navioneers and pilots line up between their planes during the Midwest Navioneers fly-in at Kalamazoo,Michigan on May 3 to 5.

Fly-in organizers Alex and Marty Eveland found a great place to meet–Kalamazoo,Michigan. It’s the legendary home of the largest automobile museum in North America (We saw it!), a very unusual aviation museum called the Air Zoo (We saw it!), a first-rate airport with a friendly, accomodating fixed base operator (We gathered there.), and some unique restaurants with more kinds of dishes than we all could eat (We tried!)

Forecasts of weather for the event didn’t look good.On Thursday, the day before the official start of the event, rainstorms and low ceilings were discouraging. But as if by Alex and Marty’s magic, on Friday the sun reappeared–and so did the Navions! The five Navions that arrived added a touch of class to the KAZO ramp, and the fun began. Rangemasters were flown in by Marty Eveland and Paul Thomas. Canopy models were flown by Dave Bejvan, Joshua Raymond and by co-owners Paul Jachman and Dick Bihler. On these pages you’ll see how the 30-or-so Navioneers and their friends and families celebrated the event.

The hospitality room was a fine gathering place for all the Navioneers. We also continued the talk as we traveled together in a big 15-passenger van.

The Gilmore Car Museum

Where’s the largest automobile museum in North America? Right here in Kalamazoo. They can brag about 190,000 square feet of exhibit space in multiple buildings, including a replica 1930s Shell gas satation and an antique diner where we could enjoy some ice cream served by a waitress in a 1930’s dress. (Note: gas was not available there at 1930’s prices.)