The Aero Experience Week In Review: Looking Ahead to Spring

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience wraps up another week visiting our Midwest Aviation Community partners to gather media for future stories and videos. In this week in review post, we include our visits to two area airports and look ahead to stories we will soon cover in detail. Here we feature the new Director of St. Louis Downtown Airport, Sandra Shore, and Big River Aviation as well as the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation, Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and Gateway Flight Solutions at Creve Coeur Airport. 

St. Louis Downtown Airport, Cahokia, IL

St. Louis Downtown Airport's new Director, Sandra Shore, marked her first week with a reception at the airport's administration building and fire house complex Friday morning. She was formerly the Director of Quincy, IL Regional Airport and Airport Manager at Floyd W. Jones Airport in Lebanon, MO. Shore earned her degree in Aviation Management from Southern Illionois University - Carbondale, and she brings her passion for aviation business development to the airport's leadership team. The Aero Experience will feature an interview with Director Shore in a future story.

Big River Aviation provides aircraft maintenance services to private, business and fleet operators from around the Midwest at their St. Louis Downtown Airport facility. On any given day, Big River Aviation's staff of experienced A&Ps can be seen working on anything from a Piper Cub to a large piston twin. This week's visit features an inspection on a Piper Navajo survey aircraft and work conducted on a Cessna 172, Piper Cherokee and Ercoupe. 

Creve Coeur Airport, Maryland Heights, MO 

Our coverage of Creve Coeur Airport includes visits to three organizations on the field. The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation is preparing for spring and summer youth programs in their facility directly across from the main terminal hangar. The F-4 Phantom II cockpit mobile exhibit will start appearing at events in late March, and the state-of-the-art V/R flight simulator lab will be used to orient teens to the flight environment when they attend pre-pilot training programs. Coverage of the Foundation's events and programs, including the Second Annual Youth Aviation Day, will be provided by The Aero Experience. 

Gateway Flight Solutions

Gateway Flight Solutions provides flight training, aircraft maintenance and other related services at Creve Coeur Airport. A variety of aircraft were in the maintenance hangar, from the diminutive Grumman Yankee to the turbine King Air undergoing a cockpit avionics upgrade. Also featured here are the flight school Piper Cherokee Warriors on takeoff.

Army Aviation Heritage Foundation 

The Gateway Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation has been conducting a phase inspection of their Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter over the winter and is preparing to reinstall the turbine engine in the coming days. The Huey, along with the chapter's Cobra, will be available for ride opportunities at the upcoming Youth Aviation Day and other events this summer.