Palmyra (WI) Father's Day Fly-in Has it All
By ANN Correspondent Rose Dorcey
Hot brown pancakes served right off the griddle, baked ham, eggs
(scrambled or fried), orange juice and coffee. Oh, and don't forget
the radishes.
It's one of the more unique items on you will find on a
breakfast menu. But it's just part of the reason this Father's Day
fly-in is growing in popularity. Throw in the fact that local EAA
Chapter #1177 recently built "Wisconsin's fastest pancake grill" --
a true engineering wonder - it pumps out 1,200 cakes per hour --
and you can easily see why there are so many smiling faces in the
swelling crowd at Palmyra (WI).
The Palmyra Flying Club (PFC) annually hosts the Father's Day
fly-in, this year for a record assembly of over 2,000 hungry
pancake eaters. An additional 1,000 "lookers" came to examine the
aircraft that flew in, many of them rare or vintage aircraft.
Lookers paid particular attention to a Percival EP-9, a Dornier
DO-27, a 1940 Spartan 7-W, a Globe Swift, two Stinson L-5's, and
Bellanca Cruisemaster (Cardboard Connie) and couple of Stearmans,
along with the more typical Commanches and Cessnas. Over 300
aircraft flew in, according to EAA Chapter member Rick Martin.
Martin, the coffee and juice cup filler-upper guy, is also the CAD
operator who helped design and build a pancake grill used to
accommodate the growing appetites of Palmyra aficionados.
A super-charged, custom built rotating pancake grill is exactly
what it takes to feed them. Martin said that as attendance grew, so
did the lines, keeping growling bellies waiting for nearly an hour.
Something had to be done. Through "napkin engineering" Martin and
fellow EAA'er Rick Jelinek came up with a plan to increase the
cooking surface from 48" to 54" - which meant another 23 pancakes
per revolution, increasing output by 50%. The plans went to CAD,
and soon a 54" Teflon-coated round piece of aluminum became the
basis for a solution to the faster pancake production pickle.
Not without a few problems along the way… like, designing
a safe pilot flame system and spreading the flame out evenly, but
nothing that couldn't be overcome by a couple of guys who love to
see things done professionally. "We pulled out all the stops to see
that this grill was done correctly," said Martin. "It makes 70
pancakes in just over three minutes."
The machine works, and it works well. The 2005 event, the
Palmyra Flying Club's 55th annual, is in its second year of
using the new grill. Jelinek spent the morning with a batter
dispenser in one hand, and a pancake server in the other. The line
moved quickly; filling plates with light, fluffy pancakes, ham and
eggs, and oh yes, the radishes.
"They're a tradition," said Martin. "A local farmer donated
radishes from his vegetable farm and they are still served with the
breakfast to this day." Unfortunately, when the farmer went away,
so did the donation. But the radishes are a tradition that lends
uniqueness to the event, so the Palmyra Flying Club purchases red
and white vegetables and loads them into dozens of baskets that are
placed on the tables. People from throughout Wisconsin and Illinois
point their airplanes (and cars) toward the Palmyra Airport (88C)
to enjoy the uncommon breakfast combination, and for many, time
with their fathers.
Though the airport, located about 90 miles south of Oshkosh, has
an asphalt taxiway, the 2,800-foot runway is still turf, as it was
when it began as a cow pasture in 1945. The pasture was rented from
Ed Calkins, a local farmer who was an airplane mechanic in WWI.
Calkins never became a pilot, but he loved being around airplanes.
EAA Founder Paul Poberezny gave Ed's son, Stewart, flying lessons
from the field. The Palmyra Flying Club was formed four years after
the airport began, in 1949. Don Agen was appointed the Palmyra
Airport Manager in 1972 and he has held the position ever
since.
EAA Chapter 1177 was formed in 1997 and began using the PFC
clubhouse for their activities soon after. In exchange, the chapter
helps with clubhouse maintenance. Funds raised at the pancake
breakfast help support the airport's maintenance projects.
Certainly, when one reads the engraved plate on the grill, "Built
for Palmyra Flying Club by EAA Chapter 1177" one can see the
successful liaison. Those who come to eat can see it, too.
You might think that after spending $1,500 in materials and well
over 120 man hours in designing, building and testing of the
grill, and achieving success, that there would be no room for
improvement, but that is not the case. "Rick and I are planning
some improvements to it," grinned Martin. The word around the
Palmyra grounds is that by 2006 we will see an automatic batter
dispenser and an automatic pancake flipper. Definitely have to see
that, and eat pancakes at Palmyra, next year.