Alaska Aviation Museum annual Fly-By Festival

Updated: 5 hours ago Published: 5 hours ago

Looking to the east with blue sky above, the throaty sound of twin radial engines gave warning as a 1944 Grumman Goose made its approach as spectators waited to get a glimpse of the historic aircraft make a pass during the Alaska Aviation Museum’s 21st annual Fly-By Festival on Sunday.

When asked to describe some of the cool planes in the fly-by this year, Rick Morrison, president of the Alaska Aviation Museum, responded, “I think the coolest one was the Grumman Goose. Because I was flying it.” Morrison flew the restored amphibious aircraft with owner John Pletcher.

The annual event is held to “reach out to the community–let them get reconnected to the aviation world and get connected with the Alaska Aviation Museum,” said Morrison. “We have a lot of history from World War II.”

“Another goal is to get the younger generation involved in aviation,” said Alaska Aviation Museum executive director Phyllis Kilgore. “To get them interested in being pilots and air traffic controllers.”

In addition to the normal air traffic on a Sunday, with weekend warriors heading out or returning from remote cabins, or air taxi operators taking clients fishing or bear viewing. People attending the event had the rare opportunity to see a 1929 Curtis Wright Travel Air 4D, an open cockpit biplane, similar to the types of aircraft that operated in Alaska nearly one hundred years ago.