Antique aircraft tour makes stop in Kalispell on July 14

Midway through July, quite a few small planes will be buzzing above Kalispell, bringing back the days of barnstorming pilots traveling from town to town.

The Pacific Northwest Antique Aircraft Air Tour will visit Kalispell City Airport on Tuesday, July 14, with 30 small craft for a free event.

Marlo Jones, on the air tour’s committee, said it be a visit to the past.

“We do this to replicate the barnstorming tours of the old days,” he said. “Sometimes we’ll get these World War II guys who say they soloed in one of those planes in 1937 or during the war.”

The Puget Sound Antique Airplane Club is organizing the tour. The 1930s saw barnstorming tours like the one coming to Kalispell, meant to bring “aviation appreciation” to communities across the nation, particularly rural.

Some of the planes coming include classic Cessnas, Piper Cubs, pre-war Howards and Interstates and several military trainers.

Jones said some of the planes had been flown privately during World War II in Hawaii.

The 30 planes will arrive July 14 and will be on the ground available for the public to see and inspect on July 15. The pilots will take off July 16 morning around 8 a.m.

The public is invited to visit the pilots and see the planes at Kalispell City Airport for no cost.

The tour has visited Northwest Montana in the past, coming to Seeley Lake and Libby in past years.

The tour will begin in Richland, Washington, and will make stops in St. Maries, Idaho; Bonners Ferry, Idaho; and Crystal Lakes, Montana; before arriving in Kalispell. The tour will then continue for stops in Kamiah and Lewiston, Idaho.

Several local businesses will be accommodating the pilots and planes.

“We’re excited to be in Kalispell with our airplanes and visit the Flathead,” Jones said.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.