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| Cactus Fly-In features airplanes from the ’50s, earlier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Martin Cizmar, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 6, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
“I know professional airline pilots who bought them and couldn’t fly them, which is very humbling for a pilot,” he says. “They bought them, they tried flying them and they sold them — right after they wrecked them.” Flying planes from the Eisenhower era isn’t always easy, says Parish, leaning back in his chair on the patio of Chandler Municipal Airport’s diner. Not only does the unstable wheel setup make them tough to land, soaring at 100 miles an hour in an open cockpit is a lot like riding in a convertible that doesn’t convert, he says. “It’s not for everyone, but flying my Steerman is the most fun I’ve had flying as a civilian,” Parish says. You’ll find dozens of pilots like Parish in Casa Grande this weekend as the 50th annual Cactus Fly-In takes to the skies. The show features antique fly-ins from neighboring time zones, says Terry Emig of the Arizona Antique Aircraft Association. Who comes, and from how far, depends on the weather. “People say, ‘Oh, you could just climb above the clouds’ — well, not in these kind of planes you can’t,” Emig says. “It’s not just the weather here, it’s the weather in California and Texas.” Parish, 73, flew 133 missions in Vietnam before working a desk job at the Pentagon, piloting commercial flights and working for Learjet. He was in his 60s before he owned his own plane, but fell in love with the Steerman, which was the primary training plane used in World War II because it was, at the time, cheap to build and easy to fly. Because so many Steermans were made and found second lives as crop dusters, parts are plentiful and restoration is popular, he says. Most pilots now paint the fabric-covered wings with military colors for the restoration competitions, where planes are judged on how accurately they represent their original form. Parish takes care of his plane, but cares more about flying than winning a trophy for the prettiest plane. “I really missed flying, I just missed being around the pilots and the flying business,” he says. That doesn’t mean he wants people “playing touchy-feely” with his plane at the fly-in. “Some women think the lower wings are someplace they can change a baby’s diaper,” he says. “We frown on that.” The Cactus Fly-In What: Antique aircraft show When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, March 7, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8 Where: Casa Grande Municipal Airport, 3225 N. Pinal Ave. Cost: $10, free for children under 12 Information: (520) 836-7447 or cactusflyin.org Contact Martin Cizmar by email, or phone (480) 898-5695 |
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