Olympic Peninsula Air Affaire
When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 30-31
Where: Sequim Valley Airport, 468 Dorothy Hunt Road, Sequim
• Balloon rides 7 a.m. daily, fees apply. Contact 360-601-2433 or e-mail airboss@nwplace.com.
• 9 a.m. both days, remote control plane demonstrations, plane show and shine, vendors and music
• Car Show & Shine, cars show up before 9 a.m. Admission required for entry. Call 417-0676 for more information.
• Saturday only: late morning: Swift Formation Smoke Planes and skydivers; early afternoon: wing walkers
• Both days: fly-in, static airplane and experimental plane show, biplane rides with fees, radio controlled airplanes show, meet the pilots booth, food, vendors and live music
(Note: all events subject to weather)
Cost: $5 per car load with handicap parking and Civil Air Patrol car, planes and pedestrian directing duties
More info: Visit olympicpeninsulaairaffaire.com.
The planes, balloons and cars are back for the second Olympic Peninsula Air Affaire.
Following last year’s successful event celebrating the City of Sequim’s centennial and Sequim Valley Airport’s 30th year, organizers hope for more of the same at the Aug. 30-31 event.
Emily Westcott, co-organizer, said they had an estimated 3,500 people visit.
“It’s exciting how well it went in its first year,” she said. “There were no complaints that I heard.”
In total, the Air Affaire hosted 33 planes, 110 classic cars, trucks and motorcycles along with wing walkers, radio controlled aircraft, skydivers, smoke planes and hot air balloons.
Captain Crystal Stout returns with her balloon along with Jeanne Anson of South Dakota and her balloon.
“I recently talked to some business owners and they found it so different from anything else around here,” Stout said of the Air Affaire. “For it to be growing shows we have a community invested in something fun and inexpensive.”
Admission to the event each day remains $5 per carload.
“Everything costs money nowadays, but we’ve made it (the Air Affaire) affordable so people can bring their families,” Stout said.
Westcott said they are hoping to see more than 50 planes for the fly-in, 200 vehicles for the car show and 30 vendors along with live music.
Andy Sallee, president of the Sequim Valley Airport, said he likes the Air Affaire because “it’s a good old fashioned fun event for the community, families and people of all ages.”
Said Sallee, “This event gives people an excellent opportunity to learn more about various aspects of aviation in an up close and personal way.”
Sallee said another way the Air Affaire is important is that it shows the many ways a small airport can be an asset to the local community and have positive effects on the local economy.
Returning acts
Coming back this year are Mike and Marilyn Mason of of the West Coast Spin Doctors who will demonstrate wing walking Saturday afternoon in their 1943 Stearman. The Globe Swift airplanes return for a flight over the field late Saturday morning, too.
Westcott said activities are scheduled more loosely because times changed last year due to different circumstances.
Stout said balloon rides are available starting Wednesday, Aug. 27, in the morning through the weekend and they’ve been able to fly whenever they’ve wanted.
“A lot of riders are from out of the area,” she said. “We’re bringing in tourists but in the first year it was more localized.”
She plans to offer tethered balloon rides both days, too, weather permitting, with $10 donations helping the Dream Catcher Balloon Rides program give rides to physically challenged people.
The Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, a non-profit which honors seniors and veterans mostly living in long-term care communities now, will come to Sequim and fly local veterans for free.
Some trips still are available through www.agelessaviationdreams.org.
“Bunky” Larson of Snohomish provides biplane rides in his 1928 Travel Air to locals for a fee, too.
R/C show
This year, three radio control clubs come together to fly both days of the Air Affaire.
Randy Hurlbut, a member of the Sequim RC Aeronauts, said the Sequim club and Port Angeles’ Olympic RC Modelers move their annual fly-in to the Air Affaire on Saturday. It’ll remain a fundraiser for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.
“It should be bigger than ever with more planes and 3-D guys (stunt fliers) coming in,” he said.
The Tri-Area R/C fliers out of Chimacum will join them and all three clubs will fly the duration of the event on Sunday.
Jack Becker of the Chimacum club said pilots will fly small to large planes all with the hope to expose new people to the hobby.
Car show
George March, Car Show and Shine organizer, said any kind of vehicle can participate both days of the Air Affaire.
He even anticipates racing boats being on display. The $5 admission to the show includes vehicle registration and participation. There will be drawings for prizes and 12 trophies in categories such as classic vehicles, motorcycles, trucks and people’s choice.
Bill’s Auto Detailing provides demonstrations on vehicle detailing.
Looking ahead
For the future, Sallee said he anticipates the Air Affaire remaining the same size due to the space available, amount of volunteers and sponsors and bringing in enough new things to keep interest up.
“As with any annual event we will look at what was popular and try to enhance those areas and strive to make a superior event that improves every year,” he said.
Find out more
For more information about the Air Affaire, call March at 417-0676.
For more information on the Air Affaire, visit olympicpeninsulaairaffaire.com or call 360-670-6294 or 461-3950.
Hawaiian music at Air Affaire
Mike and Erma, Naki’i Music, have volunteered to participate again this year in the Olympic Peninsula Air Affaire. In their 18th event of August, they will offer an amazing variety of family friendly Hawaiian, country, pop and original music. They perform at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30.
