Polson airport gets visit from the past

POLSON - Visitors from around the valley converged on the Polson Airport to take a look at unique, antique airplanes visiting town Saturday morning.

Approximately 20 planes and their owners, the majority from the Montana Antique Airplane Association out of Bozeman, held a two-hour expo where visitors could take a look at the aircraft and learn about their histories from their owners. The stop was part of a four day, three night "hop" that took the aviators from Bozeman to Townsend, on to Deer Lodge and Seeley Lake before the Polson stop. The tour finished up by visiting airports in West Fork and Twin Bridges.

"We've got the equipment and the volunteers here, so we're happy to make Polson a destination for the tour," Chuck Jarecki, a member of the Recreational Aviation Foundation, said. "It's the first time they've come here on the tour, and it's quite a collection of airplanes."

From Cessnas to Citabrias, seaplanes to single-seaters, the types of aircraft were as varied as the people flying them. Take Jim Allbright, a transplant to Bozeman from Miami, Fla., where he flew helicopters for the city's sheriff's department for 25 years.

"That was exciting, back during the drug war days in Miami," he said. "It was some good times."

Allbright said he started flying when he was 14 and started professionally flying cargo planes to South America before working for the sheriff's department. Now, Allbright flies a Harmon Rocket II that he built himself, a two-seater plane that he sometimes flips upside down, much to the chagrin of his passenger, Brenda Kessler.

"I usually go ‘No, no, no!'" she said. "But when you flip, you don't really feel it, like you would if you dive and rise. They say you can flip with a cup of water and it won't spill."

Despite not being an antique plane, Allbright's Harmon caught many an eye. Its unique paint job, which features an eagle, the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and the inscription "Never forget," seemed to be a favorite.

Other favorites included Tim Linn's 1952 Cessna 195 B, which he said was considered "the business liner" of the time.

"Its got the original paint scheme," Linn said. "I'm just preserving a little piece of aviation history."

By far the most compelling aircraft of the day was Bob and Linda Marshall's 1941 Vultee BT - 13A, a World War II basic trainer for the U.S. Army.

"There are only 11,538 of this model and probably only 200 left in the world," Bob said of the plane he reconditioned 21 years ago when he bought it. "Only about 50 are flyable and half are in museums."

In addition to how few of the specific model there are, Bob said his plane was delivered to the Army on Dec. 6, 1941 - the day before Pearl Harbor. After doing research, Bob said his plane was the last received by the Army before the start of World War II.

"The chance of the rest surviving is slim to none," he said.

One lucky kid got a chance to take a spin in the vintage aircraft. Ten-year-old Alden Drew, of Kalispell, an airplane enthusiast, took to the skies and was even allowed to take total control of the plane while in flight.

"Ten out of 10 fun," Alden said. "It was kinda different than I expected."

Alden's father, Mark, said they came down just for the event and he was thrilled for his son to get such a unique opportunity.

"He's really into it; he's got a flight simulator at home," Mark said. "I think it could be a life-altering event for him, I really do."