PORT ANGELES — The annual Fairchild International Airport Appreciation Day and Fly-In is planned for Saturday after the Wings of Freedom Tour.
The day — which will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. — is sponsored by the Port of Port Angeles, a public taxing district that owns Fairchild.
Admission is free to the airport site, which is at 1402 Fairchild Airport Road off West Lauridsen Blvd.
Activities will include an Army Special Forces parachute drop at noon.
Also available during the day will be free remote-control modelers demonstrations; free tours of port facilities and the industrial park that include a stop at the Barhop Beer Garden; on-site food and beverage vendors; up-close views of seaplanes and military, corporate, medical airlift and general aviation aircraft; hot-air balloon and aircraft rides and EAA Young Eagle flights for youth.
Buses will provide transportation from designated parking areas near the airport.
The day begins with a Lions Club breakfast-lunch from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the terminal building.
Young Eagle rides aboard eight different aircraft are free to young people ages 8-17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with parental permission.
Rides aboard a helicopter, a Navy T-6 training aircraft, and Rite Bros. Aviation aircraft will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Morning Star Balloon Co. Rides will be offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Veterans can ride the balloons for free.
Fees will charged for airplane, helicopter and balloon rides.
Remote-control modelers demonstrations will be presented from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Black Diamond Junction will play and a Kokopelli Grill food truck will be open.
Two 26-passenger buses will transport participants for free tours of port facilities narrated by port Commissioners Connie Beauvais and Colleen McAleer.
Tours will depart on the half hour from noon to 2:30 p.m. and include stops at the Barhop Brewery Beer Garden, where final pickup will be at 3:30 p.m.
The tour will include almost a dozen sites, including Clallam County Youth Services, Clallam County Public Utility District, and the pistol club.
A stop at the Composite Recycling Technology Center includes a tour of the facility, Airport Manager Dan Gase said Friday.
Aircraft that will be stationed for viewing at the airport include a B-25 bomber, Life Flight Network helicopter and jet aircraft, a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, an Atomic Helicopter Airbus H130 jet helicopter that will be offering rides, and numerous aircraft from Cascade Warbirds (www. cascadewarbirds.org).
The schedule is:
• 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Lions Club breakfast-lunch at terminal building.
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Rides aboard a helicopter, a Navy T-6 training aircraft, and Rite Bros. Aviation aircraft
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Young Eagle rides; Morning Star Balloon Co., rides; remote-control modelers demonstration; Kokopelli Grill food truck.
• Noon — Army Special Forces parachute drop.
• Noon to 2:30 p.m. — Tours of port facilities and the business park.
• 12:15 p.m.to 3:15 p.m. — Black Diamond Junction performs.
For information, see the port’s home page calendar at www.portofpa.com.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
