Mike Wolanin | The Republic Lochard Rainwater comes in for a landing while using a flight simulator during Aviation Day at the Columbus Municipal Airport in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, June 3, 2023.
Columbus Municipal Airport officials are estimating that about 4,500 people attended “Aviation Day 2023 – Inspire to go Higher” on Saturday.
“It was a fantastic day to showcase aviation to all of Columbus,” said airport director Brian Payne. “I’m very pleased with the turnout of the public and everyone showed their appreciation for the many volunteer hours of time it takes to pull together such a big event for the community.”
Aviation Day featured aircraft rides, remote control flight demonstrations and an “Inspiration Station” highlighting different opportunities in the field of aviation.
Other activities included a pancake breakfast offered by Boy Scout Troop 228 from Franklin, food trucks, bounce houses, flight simulators and static displays of aircraft. The Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum and its restored C-119 were also open to visitors, as was the Columbus Propeller makerspace.
“We’re just super passionate about aviation education here at the Columbus airport,” Payne said. “So we ran two different themes. And the idea was the ‘inspire’ or the inspiration side of the house, so inspiring people into aviation, inspiring youth to understand what we do here at the airport. And then the concept of ‘go higher’ was the flight portion of that. We haven’t had an opportunity where people could get rides here with many different aircraft for several years.”
