Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today
HASTINGS — The Hastings Municipal Airport invites the public to visit the Nebraska Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association’s 42nd annual fly-in this weekend.
The Nebraska Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association has met at the Hastings Airport on the last Saturday each month during warmer months since March 2022.
The event is open to the public 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and includes the monthly hamburger fly-in cookout from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the old brick hangar.
The Nebraska Chapter, which is one of the oldest Antique Airplane Association chapters in the country, has members from Chadron to Beatrice and everywhere in between.
Hastings hosted the Nebraska Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association’s annual fly-in for the first time in 2022.
Several dozen airplanes flew in last year from across the country for the event. Several historic airplane models were represented, including Stearman, Waco, Ryan and Howard.
Several old biplanes will be onsite for viewing this year.
The fly-in will conclude Tuesday, Aug. 29 with the start of the second-annual Blakesburg Bendix, leaving Hastings Municipal Airport at 9:30 a.m.
Four planes participated in the Bendix flight last year, during which pilots of the participating 1930s- and 40s-era aircraft estimated how long it would take them to fly from Hastings to Red Oak, Iowa, for the day.
The Bravo flight, a second, non-competitive wave of 10 planes, followed behind the Bendix participants along the same route.
The planes will continue from Red Oak to Greenfield, Iowa, and on to Blakesburg, Iowa, for the Antique Airplane Association’s Invitational Fly-In.
The Blakesburg Bendix honors the Bendix Trophy, a point-to-point race from Burbank, California, to Cleveland, Ohio, founded in 1931 by industrialist Vincent Bendix as part of the National Air Races.
The last Bendix Trophy Race was flown in 1962.
