Elite Aviation Hosts Civil Air Patrol 80th Anniversary Open House Event, Part 2

By Carmelo Turdo

Elite Aviation hosted the Civil Air Patrol 80th Anniversary and Open House event Saturday at their Spirit of St. Louis flight training facility. The public was invited to learn about the Civil Air Patrol, meet members of the local aviation community, explore the aircraft on display, take Discovery Flights in modern Elite Aviation aircraft and enjoy good food and refreshments throughout the day. Elite Aviation has supported the fleet of Civil Air Patrol aircraft since they began operations at the airport, and they were a natural partner to help plan and host the event. Special guest appearances by the Missouri CAF, U.S. Army, Metro Air Support and the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation's F-4 cockpit and Kid Zone exhibit made the day enjoyable for visitors of all ages.

In Part 1, we introduced the main sponsors, Elite Aviation and the Civil Air Patrol. Here in Part 2, we cover the special guest exhibitors at the event: Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation, Missouri CAF Wing B-25J Mitchell Show Me, Missouri Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter and Metro Air Support MD-500E. We will include the other participants in Part 3 in this series.

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire youth interest in aviation. The foundation brought their F-4 Phantom jet cockpit mobile exhibit and pedal planes for the Kid Zone area, spreading the joy of aviation to guests of all ages. Additional activities, such as a helicopter restoration project, VR flight simulation lab and periodic flight opportunities, are available at their Creve Coeur Airport location.  

The Commemorative Air Force, Missouri Wing, flew their B-25J, Show Me, to the event. The World War II medium bomber was on static display and also flew two tours around the St. Louis area in the afternoon. The CAF, a national organization based in Dallas, TX, provides living history flight experiences in the aircraft that won the war and preserved our nation. The Missouri Wing is based at St. Charles County Smartt Field Airport and their aircraft (B-25, TBM Avenger and L-3 Grasshopper) regularly appear at events throughout the Midwest. Also featured here is the T-28A Trojan flown by John Fester, a Missouri CAF pilot and flight instructor, on display and flying chase on the second flight and departure. 

Two service helicopters added some excitement to the event. A Missouri Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter from the 1-135th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion based at Whiteman AFB arrived just before 9:00 A.M and was a popular draw until departure at about 1:30 P.M. The Blackhawk has become legendary as the standard all-around utility helicopter for nearly four decades, and the unit is active supporting state-wide rescue and disaster relief operations as well as deployments on combat support missions. 

The other service helicopter on display was an MD-500E from the Metro Air Support Unit based at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. The unit is a cooperative effort among St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County to provide airborne support to first responders providing law enforcement and fire/rescue services in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Here we feature the aircraft and crew along with Joe Steimann, Founder of the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation, and his RC scale MD-500E painted to represent the unit. The aircraft was at the event for a short time before departing for appearances at several more events that day.

The Aero Experience will continue our coverage of the other exhibitors at the Elite Aviation Civil Air Patrol 80th Anniversary Open House event in Part 3 of this series.