The Way Flying Used To Be
By ANN Correspondent Rose Dorcey
The tired old airplane engine is run-out and can't be repaired;
it sits rusting in its crate in a dark corner of your hangar. Back
in the day it was a smooth runner, it provided you with moments of
solitude, the most beautiful views, and some of your greatest
pleasures while high above the earth. You realize you just can't
bear to send it to a scrap heap; isn't there a way to put it to
use?
A dedicated group of flyers at a friendly country airport did
just that. A Continental radial engine now marks the way to the
Wild Rose Idlewild Airport (C23). Don Gunderson, former 18-year
airport manager, said Wild Rose (WI) Airport Association member Jim
Stark donated the old Continental for use as the showpiece for a
new airport sign.
"The whole project took
about four months," said Gunderson. "We had a good group of guys
helping out - Don Mahn, Don Nickel, Ron Bender & Brett Wilke,
to name a few. Jim spent a lot of time cleaning up the engine,
which didn't have a prop. Ron Unertl, from nearby Central County
Airport, donated one. Ken Lapp, a machinist, made an adapter so the
prop would fit and he designed mounts to attach the engine to the
sign."
"The project ran into a delay," Gunderson
(right) continued, "when we poured the cement for the sign's
foundation. It was a disaster! The forms collapsed and we had
cement all over the place. So of course, we had to build new,
stronger forms and order another load of cement." He said the
50-some members of the Wild Rose Airport Association are the "best
scroungers in the business," as materials were scrounged up from
local businesses and around the airport. Old sheet metal was
discovered for the sign's roof, while the lettered boards from the
original sign were incorporated into the new one."
"A healthy dose of airport support comes from local businesses,"
Gunderson said, "because the airport is almost completely
self-supporting, and because the local business people realize the
positive impact the airport makes on the community. We even get
support from people who won't get in an airplane," he exclaimed,
"One guy even told me, 'I'll support the airport, but I won't get
in a plane with you.'"
Since the small airport with two grass runways does not receive
federal funding, income comes from donations, association dues,
hangar rents, and an annual June fund-raising event, a fly-in
breakfast and pig roast. An area favorite, last year's event
attracted 110 airplanes and diners by the carloads. "They came for
breakfast, then stayed for the day - they walked around, looked at
the airplanes, and stayed for our pig roast. Airport Association
member Art Korleski starts the hog the night before. It's a 200
pound hog, the live weight, which gives us 120 pounds of pork."
Installed in the fall of 2002, the new airport sign receives
much attention from the pilots flying in and those who drive by.
"People drive by, stop and back up, and get out to take a closer
look. Some even take pictures," said Gunderson.
The airport sits about 45 miles NW of Oshkosh (WI). The
east/west 2990' runway, 9/27, is plowed in winter and open year
round, while 18/36 - at 1600' - is not. "The best time to come see
us and our sign is on the weekends, when most of us are around.
It's a small airport, we have just 21 hangars, but it's a friendly
place. We have a pilot's lounge where you can take a break and have
a soda."