The Aero Experience: Greenville, IL Airstravaganza Invites Community to Share Love of Aviation

By Carmelo Turdo

The Greenville Airstravaganza, a favorite Midwest Aviation fall fly-in, was held September 16 at Greenville, IL Municipal Airport. Sponsored by the Greenville Pilots Association and the airport, the event presents an opportunity for the local community to experience aviation by visiting with fly-in pilots and taking flights in a selection of aircraft. A tethered balloon flight and exhilarating tandem parachute jump with a Gateway Skydiving Center instructor were also popular activities in the skies over Greenville.

The Aero Experience was back in Greenville to enjoy the day with our Midwest Aviation community. Inside the main hangar, guests visited with representatives of local aviation organizations, purchased airplane rides and enjoyed the pancake breakfast or midday lunch. The hot air balloon hovered over the airport during the morning hours when the winds were calmest.

Aircraft based at Greenville, including the Air Evac LifeTeam unit, were joined by a variety of others flown in from neighboring airports. From Baron twins to Cherokees, Skyhawks, Cardinals, experimentals and gyrocopters, they were all passing through sometime during the day. Here we include a survey of the fly-in traffic.

Discovery flights were given in the flight school's Cessna 172s. Other riders chose to fly in the open cockpit World War II trainers, the legendary Boeing Stearman PT-17 used by the USAAF and USN and Kevin Kegin's American Warbird Waco UPF-7 once used by civilian flight schools to train additional USAAF cadets in the early 1940s.

Gateway Skydiving Center, based in Greenville, provides tandem skydives and training courses with internationally recognized instructors. Here we feature two drops with tandem jumpers. For more details about Gateway Skydiving Center, see our story from a previous year's event coverage: Passion for Parachutes: Gateway Skydiving Center Brings Two Generations of Excellence to the Midwest.