Views from Recent Travels: Aviation Sightings from the Midwest and Midsouth

By Fred Harl

Fall aviation activities and short travel opportunities in the Midwest and Midsouth over the last few months provided some great opportunities to meet new people and check out some iconic aircraft.  Fortunately, The Aero Experience is centrally located and there are plenty of interesting aviation-related places to visit within a short driving or flying distance.  We'll take a short diversion from our current series to bring some scenes from Farmington, MO Regional Airport and a trip to the Tennessee Museum of Aviation at the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport.  

Tennessee Museum of Aviation, Sevierville, TN

Local attractions in the Sevierville, TN area include aircraft displays - Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf Beech 18 and Margaritaville Restaurant Grumman Albatross "The Hemisphere Dancer" scale replica:

 

 

The MN CAF Wing B-25 "Miss Mitchell" visited Farmington, MO Regional Airport in October:

 

Other interesting aircraft can be found passing through Farmington, like these:

 

Tom Irlbeck, former U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II pilot, flew in with his RV-8 "Bear,"

 

Raymond Fitzsimons with his F.260D:

 

Max and Brenda Bradley's Ryan Navion B:

 

Bell 412 and 407 from Aircraft Associates of Manassas, VA:

Steven Bryk Homebuilt Velocity XL-RG: