Piper pilots celebrate Sentimental Journey

The vintage high-wing Piper aircraft were manufactured in Lock Haven from 1937 to 1984. More than 5,000 of the original 19,888 J–3s are still on the FAA registry, according to the manufacturer. Piper built 736 J-3 Cubs during its first year of production and the company completed one aircraft every 10 minutes at its peak. By the end of World War II, about 75 percent of the pilots participating in the civilian pilot training program had taken their first flying lessons in the little Cub.

More modern models that trace some of their design roots or production to the Lock Haven facility include the retractable PA–24 Comanche, the agricultural PA–25 Pawnee, and the multiengine PA–23 Apache and Aztec. After a major flood damaged the Pennsylvania facility in 1972, Piper moved aircraft assembly to Vero Beach, Florida, home of the line of low-wing PA–28 Cherokees, PA–32 Cherokee Sixes, PA– 34 Seneca twins, and others.

But this week was all about Lock Haven, nostalgia, and flying low and slow. Sunset hops in vintage taildraggers, precision landings, golf ball drops, nightly corn boils, live entertainment, and camaraderie were the main attractions at the 2,179-foot-long grass landing strip or the adjacent 3,799-foot paved runway.

“It’s just an awesome atmosphere,” said Kim Garlick, executive coordinator for the multiday event. “You make a lot of friends during Sentimental Journey week.”

Longtime buddies Jim McMaster and Scott Hinton, helicopter pilots from Pennsylvania and North Carolina who met during their military service days in the U.S. Army, renewed their flying friendship under the wings of their similarly equipped red Piper Tri-Pacers. (McMaster’s “other aircraft” is a family hauling, award-winning Piper Cherokee Six.)

Former Piper Cub owner Robert Peterson, who worked at the Piper plant during its 1940s heyday, shared his 100th birthday celebration with fellow pilots mid-week.

Amish agricultural community members visited with pilots giving rides during the "golden hour" before sunset and extending into the blue twilight hours. Full beards on the men and white bonnets on the women swayed in the prop blasts between rides. A couple of Boeing Stearman Model 75s and a handful of other non-Piper models shared the airspace above the Susquehanna River that flows next to the airport.

The week’s stifling nearly 100-degree Fahrenheit heat caused organizers to freely hand out bottled water before the evening faded to cooling mountain breezes challenging no-flap-Cub pilots into slips or crabs before touching down on the grass.

Other highlights included Ben Presten’s Piper PA–16 Clipper named Calypso, which is outfitted with Whittaker tandem dual-wheel landing gear for rough-field operations. The design was offered as an option on select Piper high-wing models before the advent of spongy, low-pressure, bush tires. Charlie House’s cobbled together experimental Aeronca-based Rat was parked at show center and drew a steady crowd. The pusher-prop, exposed airframe design came complete with whiskers on the nose, a lunchbox-inspired carburetor heat assembly, and an intercom that consisted of a piece of metal to tap the front-seater’s shoulder for attention.