Barnstormers Tour coming to Bloomington this week

Community members wishing to relive the "Golden Age of Aviation" between World War I and World War II can step back in time this week on a modern-day flying time machine.\nThe 2006 American Barnstormers Tour, consisting of about 20 vintage biplanes from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, is scheduled to land at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Monroe County Airport on the westside of Bloomington to showcase planes and provide brief trips above town.\n"After World War I there was a large surplus of planes -- often called Jennys -- and a lot of pilots with experience flying that didn't want to go back to their jobs," said Sarah Wilson, one of three ABT organizers and the pilot of a 1943 Boeing Steerman -- the plane used to train American pilots before World War II. "Early barnstormers would paint 'ride' under their wings and fly above towns. Most people hadn't heard of or ridden in planes so they would follow the barnstormers out to a farmer's field to pay 75 cents to one dollar for a quick ride."\nAlso known as "flying circuses," the barnstormers offered the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight, according to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Each "Jenny," or Curtiss JN-4 used to train most World War I pilots, cost as little as $200 -- about $4,800 less than the sticker price -- due to federal government surplus after the war. \nWith no federal regulations governing aviation at the time and no significant commercial flight industry, barnstorming fast became a method of income for many aviators, and the skies above the United States became the playground to showcase their aviation talents, according to the USCFC. Barnstormers would "buzz" a town and drop handbills offering "joy rides" for a nominal fee up to $5, and the sudden appearance of a barnstorming aerial troop would shut down a town so folks could watch the show and ride the biplane rides. \nWilson said the 2006 American Barnstorming Tour will offer community members an opportunity to step back into the 1920s because the pilots will wear period aviation costumes, and the open cockpit vintage biplanes will showcase the beginning of aviation through their aesthetic cockpit dials and meters.\n"Aviation has become pretty complex, somewhat distasteful, and most of us have forgotten the thrill of flight. Our show will take you back to being a kid," Wilson said. "It's like the first time you rode a bicycle down a hill or rode in a convertible on a summer night. We don't put that thrill with an airplane anymore because we're crammed into a seat going somewhere as opposed to enjoying the flying experience -- the smells, actual quietness of it, wind in your face, feel of the air. Flying can be a special experience."\nCovering more than 1,000 miles throughout five Midwest states, the 2006 American Barnstorming Tour begins at 11 a.m. and concludes at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Weather depending, the 20 or so vintage biplanes will fly overhead Bloomington before landing at around 9 a.m. at the Monroe County Airport.\nCommunity members can attend the event for free, which might include observing the spectacle, browsing the exterior and interior of the vintage aircraft or chitchatting with the pilots about their experience barnstorming and the history of their personal planes. Similar to antique and vintage automobile restoration, biplane maintenance and upkeep can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take decades to complete a flyable ride.\nWilson said the neat thing about biplanes is that they hold two people, so those wishing to take about a 10-minute ride about 1,000 feet above Bloomington can ride with their children, spouses, parents, neighbors or friends. \n"As opposed to standing in a crowd and watching something happen in front of you, you can spend all day talking to people and hearing about their planes. You'll come away with something that is very personal, and you will fall in love with these planes," she said. "You can ride alone but if you ride with someone else it makes it that much more special. The open air, it's like you're on an adventure. We call them biplanes but really it is a biplane adventure."\nOnly four planes of the 20 are offering rides, and community members can choose their plane and pilot from top-notch and experienced barnstormers like Clay "Pork Chop" Adams, Rob "Waldo" Lock, Gary "Pop" Lust and Stuart "Cap'n Mac" MacPherson. Tickets cost $45 per person for each ride with no age limitations, and most of the cost is absorbed by the pilots' need to pay for fuel, food and lodging while on tour. \nSmith said a ride with the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour will make for a life-long memory, even if community members only swing by the airport during their lunch break to scope out the biplanes and for some one-on-one time with the pilots.\n"In the 1930s you got a shorter ride -- they took you up and put you right back down. We will give you a good thrill and it is better than any amusement park ride even though there is no daredevil stuff -- only a fun, old fashioned ride," she said. "Fears disappear when you see the smiles on people's faces. Come out and see the planes because it appeals to kids, adults, seniors and disabled folks with equal enthusiasm"