The 2018 American Barnstormers Tour will be making at stop in Ames! Central Iowa Air Service is pleased to host this amazing event July 8-10 at the Ames Municipal Airport.
Pilots on the tour hail from all over the United States, from all walks of life, whose aim is to share their love of vintage aviation with the communities on the tour. From California, Frank Schelling, Richard Zeiler and Brian Shepherd; Texas, Jared Calvert; Tennessee, Mike Rinker; Mississippi, David Mars; Florida, Rob Lock; and Minnesota, tour founder Clay Adams. We also have two international pilots joining from abroad, Thomas Leaver from England, and Pedro Langton, who is just returning from Africa with his plane.
Five of the biplanes will offer ride experiences to tour attendees at $80 per passenger (each plane holds 2 people) on a first come, first served basis. Five of the biplanes will function as static displays at each venue, with owners and restorers available to answer crowd questions. One of the biplanes will also perform aerial demonstrations daily, weather permitting. The goal of the tour is to extend fellowship, to bridge a gap between the modern day and aviation history, to allow folks immersive flight experiences in the biplanes, to draw communities to their local airports, to tell the story of the modern day barnstormers through documentary filming efforts, and to act as ambassadors to the vintage aviation community.
The documentary film crew will be on site the entire three-week tour, filming in each community and telling the story of the people both on the tour and enjoying the event. All attending the tour events are subject to filming.
This is the fifth incantation of the American Barnstormers tour, and the first time it has exclusively featured a specific make and model of biplane. The Travel Air biplane was chosen due to its historical significance in modern day aviation. The Travel Air Manufacturing Company, which is seeded with founders Lloyd Stearman, Clyde Cessna, and Walter Beech, is the foundation of their modern day corporate namesakes (Stearman was eventually purchased by Boeing.) Aviators flying aircraft manufactured by these three legendary men are specifically encouraged to attend fly-in events to bridge the gap for the public from the early roots of the Travel Air company to the foundation of Boeing, Cessna and Beechcraft (Textron Aviation) in the modern day. National Sponsors of the tour include Concorde Battery, Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, Desser Tire, David Clark, Gulf Coast Avionics, PolyFiber, Phillips 66, the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, and Hooker Harness.
For event information, please visit the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/tour2018.