GAUA EAA Ultralight Chapter 331 Hosts Spring Fly-In at Sullivan Field Airport

By Carmelo Turdo

Gateway Area Ultralight Association EAA Chapter 331 held their spring fly-in on May 4 at Sullivan Field Airport in Valmeyer, IL. Chapter members, their families and guests gathered to share some grass-roots aviation (quite literally), taking to the sky and enjoying great food and fellowship throughout the morning and into the afternoon before the spring storms came through the area. The Aero Experience visits the field periodically, and we always enjoy learning more about ultralight aviation.

We begin our coverage with a look at the airfield, some of the aircraft and lunch break between flights. Featured here is a Demoiselle replica on display in the hangar. The aircraft was originally designed by Alberto Santos-Dumont and first flew in 1907. This example was built and briefly flown once by a local St. Charles, MO resident in the 1980s and later donated to the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum. The chapter rebuilt it with new bamboo, recovered the wings, and installed the refurbished Indian motorcycle engine and a new propeller made to the exact specifications of the original. 

Our pictorial review features a selection of the flying activity. Included here are the Challenger, Pagasus Quantum, Airborne Edge XT-912/Classic/Redback trikes, Autogyro MTO Sport and Kolb Firestar. And just for fun, they had some RC aircraft - Corsair/F-22 dogfight and Demoiselle - and Mike Merkan's traditional RV-4 fly-bys. 

The Aero Experience thanks GAUA EAA Ultralight Chapter 331 for hosting the fly-in and for all they do to support ultralight aviation in the St. Louis-Metro East Illinois area. We look forward to visiting again soon.