by Jim LaMalfa
Approximately, 120 airplanes flew to Washington Island off the Door County Peninsula for the annual Lion’s Club Fish Boil Fly-In on Saturday, July 19.
The weather was ideal with a 20-knot southeast wind keeping landing rolls on Runway 32/14, short.
A mix of aircraft types was in evidence from certified Cirrus SR22s; a Maule; Bonanzas; an Enstrom helicopter from nearby Menominee, Michigan; two Boeing Stearman WWII trainers – one done in U.S. Navy colors, the other in blue and yellow U.S. Army Air Corps colors. I chatted with a member of EAA Chapter 217 in Kenosha, who flew in with a slick Sonex V tail homebuilt, powered by a Volkswagon engine, converted for aircraft use.
I also interviewed two Menominee pilots: a retired American Airlines pilot, Mike Berger, and Bob Bannow. Berger owns a Cirrus SR22, which gets him to the island, and he keeps a beautiful UBF Waco three-holer in a hangar on Washington Island for local flights. Berger has owned the Waco for five years, which was built by the Weaver Aircraft Company. Weaver also built U.S. Army WWII troop gliders. The wooden wings for the CG 16 and 14 gliders were made in Iron Mountain, Michigan.
“The Waco is an older restoration done in 1991-92,” Berger commented. “It hung in the Air & Space Museum in San Diego after being donated by the owner, Woodsen Woods. He bought it back, restored it, and sold it to his son, Scott. Waco built the UPF as a military trainer during WWII, but the UBF was rarer, only 18 were built. It’s powered by a 220 hp Continental radial engine. I’m the 26th owner, the first being a woman pilot from New York. She was friends with Amelia Earhart who may have flown the Waco.”
Washington Island Airport has made many improvements to their grass airstrip, lengthening both runways to 2200 feet, and lowering the uphill grade on 32/14 to a manageable and hardly noticeable incline.
The view of Washington Island, Door County, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, flying towards the north, is spectacular! Nearby airports are Menominee Twin County in Menominee, Michigan, and Escanaba, Michigan, a bit further north.
How was the fish? Excellent if you like fist sized cuts of whitefish! And the burn off of fish oil is always spectacular to watch!
