National Air Tour

The National Air Tour was an annual event from the mid-1920s into the early 1930s.  Designed to be a showcase of aviation reliability and safety -- at a time when powered flight was still a novelty to many --  it rapidly grew to become a popular feature around the country. 

Only the depths of the Great Depression could ground this great parade of the skies, and the last one was flown in 1931.  The 1932 tour was cancelled...

Fast forward 71 years, to the summer of 2003.  To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Flight, another National Air Tour was organized, following the exact route of the cancelled 1932 tour!   Arriving in Anoka, MN (just outside Minneapolis-St. Paul) on September 10th, this amazing display of antique and unique aircraft proved irresistible -- so Mary and I saddled up Atlas and flew there for a chance to take part in history.

Our hosts, Paul & Margene, kindly put up with us overnight, and with their help we soaked up 24 hours of once-in-a-lifetime aviation history...

Jay & Mary Honeck with the Pilatus support plane...	Imagine landing THAT in a 20 knot crosswind?	Wow.	Check the Garmin on the glareshield!	Wonder what an overhaul costs?
Jay & Paul with a Sikorsky backdrop...	Jay in his "National Air Tour" shirt...	I think Paul is trying to say something?	Mary checkin' out the planes...	Our kids schoolmates didn't believe them when they told them there really WERE flying cars!
Mary and the trimotor...	Funny looking thang....	And everyone thinks diesel is the future NOW?		Paul keeping people out of props...
Paul -- a speed blur all day long!	Careful!	It looks brand new!	Kinda makes our plane (background left) look little!	An extremely rare bird...
Sikorsky S-38, "Osa's Ark"	Sikorksky S-39...	An original!	A Travelair...	Pulling them out...
Two in a row...	Check out these unique ailerons...	Now that is an elaborate exhaust collector...	A "movable rudder" indeed...	You won't see one of these anywhere else!

.