Sparta Fly-In

2010 Sparta Fly-in and Jamboree will be here soon!

2009-12-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

Despite being in the winter doldrums, the Sparta Fly-in and Jamboree (4th annual) will be here before we know it. Please mark your calendars down for the 1st Saturday in June (5 June 10) for this coming year.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and we will see you next year!

Great Fun, Great Friends, Great Cause

2009-06-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

We had great weather for our 3rd annual Sparta Fly-in and Jamboree & more than 40 aircraft flew in to partake in the activities. Through the generosity of several people we grew the donations over last year and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation will be receiving over $1200! Thank you! Also, thank you to all our volunteers for your time...without you it would have not been a success. Also a big thanks to the town of Sparta, Marvin & Donna Campbell, and all the folks who showed up to enjoy a beautiful day at the airport and also help raise some money for brain tumor & cancer research.

Our awards went to Bill Aanstad (Top Pilot--short field t/o & landing contest)....AGAIN, Todd Drenkhahn (Top Flour Bomber), Dan from Clarkville, TN (Longest distance flown), Dwight Hayden (People's Choice Land Vehicle), and Marvin Campbell (People's Choice Aircraft).

Thank you again for your support! You made a difference on 6 June 09 for all the kids fighting brain tumors and cancer!

Thanks!
Brian "Brain" Kissinger

"CAB Aviation" Pilot & Bombardier low pass over target to verify point of impact (PI) prior to climb to altitude for flour bomb drop

It was a Success -- Thank you!

2009-06-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a success! Thank you! I will post more details & pix soon...but we raised over $1100 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and had a great time doing it!

Thank you again!
Brian "Brain" Kissinger
www.brainsflight.com

How to get here?

2009-06-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Airnav link has all the information!
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSAR

Plus the address for you GPS'er is: 1800 N Market St, Sparta, IL 62286.

It's just on the north side of Sparta Il on IL-4. If you get lost just ask someone how to get to the Sparta Wal-mart....the airport is just on the north side of the Wal-mart on the same road.

If you still need directions call 618-443-5321.

See you on Saturday! BK

Weather is here, wish I was beautiful

2009-06-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

The weather is looking good for this Saturday!

Saturday, Jun 6
High: 82 °F Very warm with times of sun and clouds
SSE Winds at ~ 10

Very nice for a fly-in, drive-in, and Jamboree!

Remember....all fly-in pilots, car or motorcycle exhibtors, EAT FREE! (1 hot dog & a Coke). Make sure you check in at the blue shade tent to get your lunch ticket.

Tentative schedule:
10 am: Gates open to general public
-- $1 recommended donation--all proceeds to brain tumor/cancer research
10-12 noon- Young Eagle flights, static displays, etc
12 noon- RC aircraft flying overhead
1 pm- Flying contests begin
3 pm- Awards ceremony & raffle tickets picked
4 pm- Gates close

See you there!

Cheers,
Brian "Brain" Kissinger
www.brainsflight.com

Looks good for Saturday -- Fly-in Pilots Eat Free!

2009-06-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

As of this morning the weather looks promising for Saturday (mostly sunny!)...let's hope it stays that way or improves.

Remember the official time of the event is 10 am to 4 pm with flying contests starting at 1 pm. And all fly-in pilots eat free (1 hot dog and a soda)! And there will food and fun for all.

Free free to fly in the night before too if you like.

Fly safe! BK

ps All proceeds go to benefit brain tumor & cancer research....you can also make an on-line donation by clicking on the button on this website...it will take you to the secure "FirstGiving" donation page....100% of your donations go to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

It's a go!

2009-05-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

We are on for this coming Saturday for the

3rd annual Sparta Fly-in and Jamboree!

Feel free to come in early (Friday night) and stay late (Saturday night)....just be there on Saturday.

Any pilots that FLY-IN receive a ticket to eat for free (1 hot dog & a Coke)!

Please see "Brain" or any volunteer for your ticket. Plus the pilot flying in from the longest distance to Sparta (by 2 pm) will receive a plaque!

There are a couple hotels within walking distance from the airport and primitive tent camping (no water, etc) around your airplane is available for free (or a small donation for cancer/brain tumor research).

We have a ton of fun activities set for the day including flying competitions, RC models flying, Young Eagle flights, car & motorcycle shows and much more!

Any proceeds from the fly-in benefits cancer and brain tumor research, especially the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation: http://www.pbtfus.org/

Cheers, Brian "Brain" Kissinger

June 6, 2009 -- 3rd Annual Sparta Fly-in -- Mark Your Calendars!!!

2008-09-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Next year (and all future years) we plan to do the fly-in on the first Saturday in June with a bad weather date of Sunday and a REALLY bad weather day of the 2nd Saturday in June.

So put it down on your calendars now. The 3rd Annual Sparta fly-in 2009 will be June 6, 2009!

Cheers,

Brian "Brain" Kissinger

http://www.brainsflight.com/

In-flight photo of the 2 L-4s from Sparta......WE ARE SPARTA!!!!!

The Day in Review

2008-06-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day we had on the 14th of June at the Sparta airport. As you can see from this picture we had a ramp full of aircraft. Everything from the smallest ultralight to helicopters to multi-engine aircraft came in for the fun and festivities at our small airport. I believe a good time was had by all and we raised over $1,000 for brain tumor and cancer research! That is more than double what we raised last year!

No one went hungry as our best fund-raiser seems to be the hamburgers and hotdogs we sell at the fly-in. The wonderful people who volunteered to prepare, cook, and serve the food are simply great. My thanks go out to Walt Turk who provided most of the food and to Barb, Bill, Brad, Rob, Mike, and all the others who slaved over the grills and sold more hamburgers and hotdogs then we did last year.

We also raffled off 2 sets of St Louis Cardinals baseball tickets, 2 custom made putters donated by Walt Turk (our EAA chapter president), a custom kitchen sink and other items donated by Belleville Supply (thanks Mike Lotz!), and several other prizes.

The flying events were a blast with the short-field takeoff and spot landing competitions starting the afternoon. Bill "Ace" Aanstad displayed his superior flying skills and placed first in both of those competitions. I got lucky and flew my L-4 Cub close enough to the flour bomb target that my ace bombardier (my middle daughter Gabby) was able to precisely drop 1 of her small bags of flour about 11 feet from the bullseye. That was good enough to win.

The "People's Choice" aircraft award went to DianA's (not DianE) Sport Cub and Jerry won the "People's Choice" land vehicle for his Smoky and the Bandit Trans Am.

Our top Judge this year was Dwight Hayden who stepped in for our friend Dennis D'Angelo who is back overseas in Germany on a 3 year tour as civilian working with the Air Force. Dwight did a wonderful job! On Friday when we were setting up for the event, we took the opportunity to "slipped the surly bonds of earth" in the L-4 for a little while. I shot this big "L-4 grin" picture of Dwight in the back seat. It simply does not get any better than that.

This year we also had a number of classic and vintage cars for the crowds to drool over.

So in all, the weather was great, the people were wonderful and we raised money for brain tumor and cancer research. Let's do it again next year!

Next year (and all future years) we plan to do the fly-in on the first Saturday in June with a bad weather date of Sunday and a REALLY bad weather day of the 2nd Saturday in June. So put it down on your calendars now. The 3rd Annual Sparta fly-in 2009 will be June 6, 2009!

Thank you again for all your support and for participating .... especially for the volunteers .... we could not have done it without you!

Cheers,
Brian "Brain" Kissinger

http://www.brainsflight.com/

It was a Success....thank you!

2008-06-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on the Sparta Fly-in yesterday.....it was a success! We had beautiful weather and a good turn-out. We raised more than $1,000 for the National Brain Tumor Foundation for brain tumor and cancer research. Thank you everyone!!!!

More later....

Happy Father's Day!
Brain

It Doesn't Get Any Better!

2008-06-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

High: 81°F, Partly sunny and less humid.

This forecast as of 10:40pm the night before is simply wonderful! Light winds out of the North lines everything up nicely for a wonderful fly-in!

We hope to see you all there! Fly, ride, or drive in.

Cheers, Brian "Brain" Kissinger

p.s. Congrats to Marvin & Donna May on the birth of their 1st grandbaby...we will miss them tomorrow but they are where they need to be this weekend! Happy Father's Day (and new GrandFather's Day!)

Saturday's forecast looks good!

2008-06-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

The Forecast is here and it looks pretty darn good (we hope it stays that way!):

Saturday: Jun 14
High: 86 °F
Nice with intervals of clouds and sunshine

We hope to see you there for the fun and excitement!

Cheers, Brain

The 14th of June is almost here -- Be There

2008-06-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

It's almost here!

Please make plans to be at the Sparta Fly-in on Saturday the 14th

Gates open around 10 am with Young Eagles being flown first thing and flying events start at 2 pm

FREE ADMISSION...Donations accepted....

all money goes to brain tumor and cancer research

Military Fly-Bys are being planned from Scott Air Force Base!!!!

We are hoping for great weather on the 14th but will have a rain date of Sunday the 15th as needed. Please call 618-443-2002 if you have any questions before or just want to confirm the morning of that the weather is good to go.

Less than 1 month to go!

2008-05-19T05:34:00.001-07:00

Greetings:

Less than a month to go to the BIG day at Sparta. We look forward to seeing you for all the fun!

Cheers! Brain

How to get here, where to stay, and what to eat?

2008-04-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

If you are coming via the air in an aerospace vehicle, Sparta's identifier is SAR. It is about 25 nautical miles on about a 160 heading from Scott Air Force Base (BLV).
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSAR

If you are coming via the highways in a land vehicle, take IL-4 to Sparta. The airport is just on the north side of town. You can also follow the signs to the World Shooting and Recreation Complex and just go a couple miles further south towards Sparta. When you see the airport on the left you have arrived.

The address, for you Mapquesters or GPS users, is:
SPARTA COMMUNITY AIRPORT
1800 N. MARKET
SPARTA, IL 62286

And if you still can't find the airport or just want to ask a question, give us a ring at 618-443-2002. Ask for 'Ol Marvin, Wild Bill, or just talk to whoever picks up the phone. We will all be happy to give you vectors to the final fix.

Where to stay? If you arrive the night before or want to stay over an extra night there are plenty of hotels and motels in the area. Some are even within walking distance. Or you can even pitch a tent on the airfield if you are, like me, an outdoorsy type. If you never camped out on an airfield it's actually a pretty cool experience. Nothing but the stars, the blue taxiway lights, your friends and you telling lies...I mean stories....and the turning of the airport's rotating beacon. When you wake up you are just feet from your airplane, motorcycle, or car. Ahhhhh....it brings back so many memories.

What to eat? We will be providing food on Saturday at the airfield. Plus there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance in case you come in early and/or stay late. The Pizza Hut across the street is so close it has a flashing beacon on its roof because it is on the approach end of the East-West grass runway.

For a small town Sparta is actually pretty well equipped....heck there is even a Wal-mart within walking distance from the airport in case you forget something. So you won't go without and you won't go hungry!

Come on to the Sparta fly-in for a heap of small airport fun and to help a great cause!

Cheers, "Brain"

Welcome to our Sparta Fly-in (Drive-in or Ride-in Too) Information blog!

2008-04-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

We created this blog as an information center for the Sparta, Illinois Fly-in

Welcome to our blog! June 14, 2008 will be the Second Annual Sparta Fly-in. We will start relatively early....as soon as people and planes start showing up. We will start the flying events at 2 pm and we will end when everyone goes home or the sun goes down.

Last year we had a pretty good turn-out and conducted flour bombing and short-takeoff competitions to the excitement of the crowds. No airplanes, people, or animals were harmed in the operations and a LOT of fun was had by ALL.

Food was provided by volunteers from EAA Chapter 64, http://webpages.charter.net/dusterpilot/eaa.htm , at very reasonable prices and they have volunteered to do it again this year so no one will go hungry. Plus Miss Donna May (Marvin's wife) bakes some of the best cookies this side of the Mississippi. It's worth flying/driving/riding in just for the cookies!

All the proceeds go to the National Brain Tumor Foundation, http://www.braintumor.org/, a worthy charity with all the money earmarked for research programs to find a cure for brain tumors and cancer.

We have coordinated with some of the region's car and motorcycle clubs and we plan to have a nice turn-out of vintage cars and motorcycles too.

So bring the family for a fun day of transportation with aviation, automobiles and motorcycles! You won't be sorry....and best of all....ADMISSION IS FREE. Donations to help fight cancer are always appreciated.

p.s. We will also have a raffle with proceeds going to cancer/brain tumor research. If you have any items you would like to donate for the raffle please let us know. So far we have some St Louis Cardinals baseball tickets donated for the auction. Any additional tickets, airplanes, airplane parts, etc. would be greatly appreciated. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt for the value of your donation.

Photo below is of the 5 Loose Goose Formation Team who will be there....

Left to Right: 1948 Aeronca Champ, 1942 L-4 Piper Cub, Plans built Ragwing Special Biplane, a kitbuilt RANS S-7, and a kitbuilt Sonex.