CRESTVIEW — Local military veterans needing out-of-town medical care benefited the most from Emerald Coast Aviation’s fly-in.
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Through raffle ticket sales, donations and proceeds from air rides, Emerald Coast Aviation's annual event on Saturday raised more than $600 for the Veterans Airlift Command, ECA chief financial officer Crystal Boyles said.
Things that fly and things that drive delighted and intrigued residents during the fly-in.
Families took brief flights above Crestview, and young aspiring pilots who wanted to try their hand at the yoke, enjoyed ECA’s Redbird flight simulator.
A trio of vintage aircraft — including a World War II-era North American Aviation T-6G Texan and two circa-late 1950s, early-1960s Chinese trainers — performed fly-bys, trailing smoke as they passed low above Bob Sikes Airport’s 8,000-foot runway.
A North Okaloosa Fire District airport crash truck and Eglin Air Force Base’s Mobile Emergency Operations Center were among ground-based vehicles on display.
“We’re completely self-sufficient,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Todd Lawrence, who showed the center’s array of monitors and communications equipment that allow operators to direct emergency responses to events such as hurricanes and wildfires on location.
Community organizations including ATA Taekwondo, Carolina Air-Prep, the Common Ground Community Garden, and the Crestview Area Sister City Program staffed information tables at one side of ECA’s hangar.
At the other end were attendees — who, ECA general manager Tom Rimkus said, made up the fly-in’s largest crowd to date. He estimated that more than 250 people enjoyed the event and free food from Buddy’s View Barbecue.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview airport fly-in attracts vintage planes and raises funds for vets (PHOTOS, VIDEO)