The Aero Experience: Waco aso

Monday, June 15, 2015

American Waco Club Flies Out to Aero Estates Airport in Nearby Belleville, IL (Part 2)

By Leo Cachet

I was blessed enough to be apart of the American Waco Club Fly-In breakfast event at Aero Estates Airport on Saturday. God smiled on all those who attended by providing great weather for the event - the forecast was calling for a decent morning with rain and thunderstorms building quickly in the afternoon - which thankfully didn't affect any of the participants. It was a great morning photographing the Wacos and other aircraft as they arrived and departed back to Creve Coeur Airport where the American Waco Club holds their get- together annually. This venue provides for great opportunities both for photography of vintage aircraft and as a social occasion, as those who attend are among some of the friendliest and informative you could ever want to talk to. We were warmly welcomed and truly appreciate the invitation to come out and photograph such great aviation history.

Thank you to our hosts Mark and Elaine Harter for organizing such a great event and allowing us to be a part of it. Also thank you to Ken Kellogg and members of the former Scott Aero Club for providing lunch to attendees as well. And last but not least, thank you to all the pilots who flew in and let us take The Aero Experience and our audience back to the 1930's through this photo essay.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

American Waco Club Flies Out to Aero Estates Airport in Nearby Belleville, IL (Part 1)

By Mark Nankivil

The American Waco Club continued its annual Fly-In activities Saturday by flying to Aero Estates Airport in nearby Belleville, IL for the traditional donut breakfast hosted by Waco owners, Mark and Elaine Harter. The breakfast fly-out from Creve Coeur Airport in St. Louis County to Aero Estates has become a Midwest Aviation tradition, bringing together friends and acquaintances for a few hours of shop talk, social banter and great photo opportunities during arrivals and departures. The Aero Experience was privileged to again be invited to the gathering this year, and we have a wealth of coverage. We wish to thank Mark and Elaine Harter for hosting the Waco pilots again this year, and also to Ken Kellogg and the members of the former Scott Aero Club for inviting us to their annual lunch reunion held following the Waco departures.

In the following sequence, we will feature several Wacos and a few other aircraft types of the same period that joined the gathering at Aero Estates:

Mark and Elaine Harter's Waco YKS-7