The Aero Experience Week In Review: Activity at St. Louis Downtown Airport

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience looks back at this week's visit to the West Apron at St. Louis Downtown Airport. We had an enjoyable day working with several local groups to promote Midwest Aviation. The day's weather varied from dark, overcast skies to partly sunny, and the photos below illustrate the changing conditions as the day progressed. Thankfully, there was no rain and many types of aircraft were available within our view (we will have more in our end of the month general aviation review).

Our first stop was a brief visit to Big River Aviation, the aircraft maintenance center at the West Terminal. Big River Aviation services single and twin-engine piston aircraft along with providing flight training and aircraft rental. The Aero Experience works closely with Big River Aviation on our aerial photography projects and in support of humanitarian aviation activities. Included in the aircraft being serviced below are a Cessna 172 used in youth mentoring by AeroCareers and a Piper Geronimo being prepared for humanitarian work with Manos de Compasion in Guatemala.  

Our next stop was the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum to host a tour for students attending the Parks College Aviation Summer Academy. These high school juniors and seniors from around the country have a keen interest in aviation careers, and they were eager to learn more about the museum's exhibits. By fortunate scheduling, the tour was taking place while the Missouri Wing Commemorative Air Force crew was preparing their B-25 Mitchell, Show Me, for a flight to the ShrinersFest Airshow in Evansville, IN this weekend. They were able to visit with the crew and get a good look at the aircraft as it emerged from the hangar next to the museum, and no doubt went back with a great aero experience!

As mentioned above, the Missouri Wing of the Commemorative Air Force was preparing the B-25 Mitchell, Show Me, for a flight to the ShrinersFest Airshow in Evansville, IN. The wing is temporarily based at St. Louis Downtown Airport due to flooding at their base at St. Charles County Airport, and we were able to view the aircraft as it prepared for flight and later took off. Our sequence covers the bomber's start up and two flights: first was a crew check flight and return to the apron; next was a change of crew and takeoff for Evansville.

Our last entry here includes a selection of general aviation and other civilian aircraft we encountered during the day's visit. We will have much more general aviation aircraft in our end of the month general aviation review, but we thought these would make a great preview set!