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August 26, 2001Planes, grains and automobilesDespite rain, Northport event goes off perfectlyBy MIKE NORTONRecord-Eagle staff writer NORTHPORT - Rain clouds hovered over Woolsey Memorial Airport all morning, but it was the long strings of geese and duck that had Forbes Houghan worried. "You don't want to tangle with those guys when you're flying," he said. "They can really mess you up." He needn't have worried. In spite of the waterfowl and an intermittent drizzle that eventually came close to a real rain, the Northport Pilots Association's annual Fly-in - Drive-in Breakfast went off without a hitch. Airplanes and minivans came and went, coffee got brewed (a little more slowly than usual) and hundreds of guests got their fill of eggs, sausage, pancakes and juice. And the morning's highlight, the landing of a mammoth C-130 Hercules military cargo plane on the tiny grass airstrip, was picture-perfect. "This is great," said Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Loveland of the U.S. Coast Guard air station in Traverse City, which sent one of its rescue helicopters over for the event. "This is real grass roots." And it has been for the past 12 years, ever since the Pilots Association hit upon the idea of holding an annual get-together at the airport to raise money for needed maintenance and repairs. Only about half the members of the association actually are pilots, said Houghan, but they all share a love for the historic airstrip and the Northport area in general. "They're just a bunch of great guys who get together at the fire station every morning for coffee," said retired Michigan State University band director Ken Bloomquist, now conductor of the Northport Community Band, which gave a somewhat moist performance from the cupola of the airfield terminal. "We do this for the airport, but also for a lot of other projects in the community." The airport was founded in 1935 on the site of the former Clinton Woolsey farm (its fieldstone terminal was originally a dairy barn). Woolsey was a pioneer aviator who died in a midair collision during a goodwill tour of South America, and the picturesque airstrip attracts plenty of visitors - even those who have no particular interest in flying in or out of Northport. With its 3,600-foot runway and its lack of navigational or refueling facilities, Woolsey is listed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Class D airport. But local residents and summer visitors have been working for years to keep it up and running; they've done extensive work in the terminal and on the surrounding grounds, largely supported by funds raised at the August breakfast. But since this is Leelanau County, even that seemingly unobjectionable effort isn't going entirely unchallenged. A few of the guests at Saturday's event sported T-shirts reading "Keep Woolsey Green" to demonstrate their opposition to the idea of replacing the grass runway with a concrete strip. The Pilots Association says the concrete facility would be safer, but opponents believe it would ruin the beauty of the airport and lead to an unwanted increase in air traffic. But most of the shirts, hats and other gear on display (and for sale) at the breakfast were much less controversial, featuring pictures of the Marine Corps C-130 or the airport terminal with its trademark bumblebee-striped roof. And most of the conversation - when it didn't involve wagers about the arrival and severity of the impending rain - seemed to revolve around visiting relatives, new grandchildren and the price of gasoline. "I think this is good for the human condition," said Suttons Bay resident Lang Southwell, watching the big cargo plane taxi to a halt past a line of classic antique automobiles. "It's good for us to see this technology, even the technology of years past that's helped win wars for us. It makes you think." |