Some of the most fun times around an airport are the weekends in July. People are celebrating the freedom of our great country with the freedom of flight.

A couple of years ago I took advantage of an opportunity to go to a fly-in breakfast at Watervliet, Michigan. After all, I had my honey-do list checked off for the day, and I really couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than to reward myself with flying. After a preflight weather briefing, and inspection of the airplane, I strapped in and blasted off into the wild blue yonder.

The plan was to go to the small airport and enjoy steak and eggs for breakfast with the Watervliet Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). The town in the southern part of the state has very nice airfield with well marked sod runways carved out of the surrounding woods.

As it turned out, the advertisement for the weekend event was printed incorrectly and the breakfast was scheduled for the next day. Today’s agenda was lunch. I felt sort of out of place after arriving nearly three and one half hours too early. However, I quickly discovered that I wasn’t alone. A couple who came in from the north had landed expecting breakfast as well.

We learned that we were not far from a local restaurant. As we chatted with the pilots they gave detailed directions to a place right off the end of the runway. We were talking about taxiing the plane to the other end of the field when we were offered a ride.

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The EAA chapter president gave us a ride in his 1942 Willy’s Jeep to the end of the turf runway. From there we hiked a short distance through a wooded area until the path ended at the edge of a road. We walked along the side of M-140 less than a quarter of a mile, and after crossing a bridge we finally arrived at Ma and Pa’s Country Kettle. We didn’t have steak and eggs, but we all agreed that the breakfast buffet was better than we had experienced in a long time, not to mention meeting some of the friendliest folks.

After hiking back to rendezvous with the Willy’s driver, we heard many stories of past fly-ins at this airport. The driver’s two sons were back from Iraq, and his daughter was a pilot, and would be returning soon with his airplane. He was a proud father telling stories of how he raised his kids around the airport.

I find the most interesting things going on around active EAA clubs. There was a lot happening in this small chapter. The members showed me a Pitts Special that they are in the process of rebuilding. The Pitts is a little bi-plane that is great for aerobatics, and demands a good amount of piloting skills. I asked who was going fly her when the project was finished, and one of the members told me that it was probably going to be for sale soon after completion.

It was fun to watch as two fellows checked the controls of a Fly Baby as they prepared for flight. This aircraft had to be hand propped to start the engine. The pilot had the little wood and fabric tail-dragger up in the air in no time. He put on a mini air show for the gathering, as he did a few low passes down the grass field. The little four-cylinder Franklin engine, with no muffler, just cackled as he flew by. That little blue streak of a flying machine would make a barnstormer out of most any pilot.

By now there were quite a few aircraft arriving for lunch, but it was time for my departure. Next year I will plan for the whole day, to visit my new friends and share more stories.