By MARK BRIANT
mbriant@soundpublishing.com
BREMERTON — One of the world’s biggest communities of aviation professionals and enthusiasts descends on Bremerton National Airport Friday and Saturday, August 19-20 for what is shaping up to be the biggest aviation happening on the West Coast this year.
The Aircraft Owners’ and Pilots Association (AOPA) visits Bremerton for the first time, and members are excited to pay their first visit to the Port of Bremerton.
“This is going to be a great event,” said Joe Kildea, spokesman for AOPA. “We expect more than 2,800 people to be around the airport.”
The event features aircraft of every type and shape, from small personal aircraft up to at least one World War II-era B-25 that has committed to flying in. On Saturday, the B-25 will be available for revenue rides.
Even more than two weeks out, early registrations hint at the size of the event. As of Monday, Aug. 1, 1,138 people had registered, with 341 aircraft. Locally, more than 200 people had signed up as volunteers. All told, the event is projected to have a local positive economic impact of $650,000.
The event officially kicks off on the evening of Friday, Aug. 19, with the Barnstormer Fly-In. There will be bands, a dinner and tours of the aircraft as they are parked alongside the airstrip.
Visitors and participants also had the opportunity to register for two on-the-ground events — one a tour of Paine Field in Boeing, and the other a guided tour of the John C. Stennis when it docks in Bremerton. Both tours, however, sold out — and in the case of the Paine Field tour, it took exactly 11 minutes.
But whether AOPA members or just local aircraft enthusiasts, the Fly-In provides a rare opportunity to see beautifully restored and maintained aircraft, and to visit with the people who lavish so much time and attention on these stunning examples of working aviation history.
While pride may help drive local enthusiasm for the event, there is good, solid economic development potential behind it as well. Many AOPA members are either aviation executives themselves or know people who make important decisions on things like where suppliers are located, employee quality of life, cost of housing, proximity to Boeing, and so on.
“There is just one last thing,” said Fred Salisbury, the airport vice president of operations for the Port of Bremerton. “We just need Mother Nature top be kind to us and give us good weather.”
For extensive additional information, visit the event’s official web page at www.aopa.org/community/events/aopa-fly-ins/2016-aopa-fly-ins/bremerton.
