GALESBURG, IL – What attracts people to Stearman biplanes?

“The Stearman is rare enough to be a valued American treasure,” explains Stearman pilot and restorer David Burroughs of El Paso, IL, “but common enough that many Americans have relatives who had some connection to them over the years.”

“The ruggedly handsome Stearman airplane played three historically rich and important roles in American history,” says Burroughs, the owner of a yellow Navy N2S-3. “And it’s still going. And it’s still attracting crowds who want to look, touch, and experience the emotion associated with it.”

GALESBURG, IL – The flight of eight Stearmans into Ronald Reagan National Airport on June 8, 2010, was kind of a big deal. Since 9/11, general aviation operations at DCA in the nation’s capital have been almost non-existent.

But these pilots and their passengers had a waiver to land there to help promote “Legends of Flight,” a new 3-D IMAX movie premiering at the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum in downtown Washington, D.C.

The pilot of the lead plane, John King Jr. of Midland, VA, landed without incident.

GALESBURG, IL – Robert Preston wants to share the Stearman experience.

The Ohio pilot attended his first National Stearman Fly-In here in 2009, using a borrowed plane. It was so much fun, Preston says, that he decided to return in 2010 with his own plane.

He plans to spend much of Fly-In week, Sept. 6-11, giving rides in his 1943 Stearman. The mission is two-fold, Preston says: giving others the opportunity to take to the skies in a vintage biplane, and to help preserve the memory of the young men and women who learned to fly in Stearmans so they could help defend the United States.

GALESBURG, IL – Area youngsters can win airplane rides and other prizes in a balsa plane-flying contest during the 39th National Stearman Fly-In.

Competition will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, at Galesburg Municipal Airport. There is no charge to participate in the competition or to watch other Fly-In activities, including the popular Four-ship Formation Flying Contest which also will start at 1 p.m.

The balsa plane competition will be open to the first 500 youngsters who arrive at the contest site. Entrants will get to keep their planes after competing.

GALESBURG, IL – The 39th National Stearman Fly-In will be featured in the November issue of “Sport Aviation.”

The magazine is the most popular of five published by the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA), a 160,000-member organization which has its headquarters in Oshkosh, WI. Its other magazine titles are “Warbirds,” “Vintage Airplane,” “Sport Aerobatics” and “Mentor” – the latter for flight instructors.

EAA is sending writer Jim Busha, who is editor of “Warbirds,” and chief staff photographer Jim Koepnick in the organization’s Cessna 210 photo ship to cover the annual Galesburg Fly-In, which is scheduled Sept. 6-11.