Airplanes soared through the air and sat on the ramp of the Max Westheimer Airport at the return of the Norman Aviation Festival Saturday.
2021 marks the 15th year the airport and Norman Chamber of Commerce have let the community experience planes up close and personal.
The festival was discontinued in 2020 due to COVID-19, airport manager Lance Lemkin said.
Kevin Stitt’s chamber address on aviation Friday morning in Norman.
While Lemkin was glad to celebrate 15 years and the back of the festival, he told the airport’s mission has stayed the same each year.
“Getting kids, grandparents and parents to learn, look at, touch, feel. Just get a concept of what aviation is so that we can spark that moment and we can keep the pipeline for the following generation to come into aviation,” he told.
Lemkin said the festival looked to bring a larger turnout Saturday than in 2018 and 2019.
The festival had more than 15 planes and more than 25 stands for attendees to enjoy
While Lemkin would have liked more planes at the festival — some couldn’t fly in because of the low cloud cover following rain Saturday morning — he was still pleased with the number of planes present that day.
The festival is important in Oklahoma, where aviation is the second-largest industry, Lemkin said. It’s valued at $55 billion, he estimated, behind oil and gas.
Craig Parker, who let children sit in the cockpit of his Cirrus SR22T plane Saturday, said there’s “a huge shortage of pilots” in the aviation industry.
“This is a fantastic career because of the pay that’s possible, the possibilities available,” he said.
University of Oklahoma
Lemkin said the event also provides airport staff to show what the facility does for the community. The airport is owned by the University of Oklahoma and brings in passengers and OU game attendees. It has an estimated $37 million impact on the community, he said.
It also contributes to the mission of creating pilots, he said.
“We train over 150 students every year, and all those pilots go on to fly for American, Southwest, United, Delta,” he told.
Lemkin said the festival is a blend of safety, education and exposure to aviation. He said airports lost connection with the community when security measures were enacted following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Events like the Saturday’s now happen throughout the country on an occasional basis, he said.
Youngsters lined up to look at the planes as they sat on the ramp connecting the terminal and the runway. Some planes flew into the airport and parked for the crowd when the festival.
Kyler Johnson, who was there with his family, said his son Miles, 1, got to sit in a cockpit and touched “about every other plane” there.
“It’s always fun to expose him to things that he makes get to do and see very often, and this is kind of a unique event,” Johnson said.
Eric Martin Jr., 7, said he liked watching the planes take off “and the snow cones.” His favorite plane was the L-39 ZO — flown by the Soviet Union during the Cold War — which towered over the others on the ramp.
“The community sees these planes flying around.
They don’t get a chance to go up close to it and see what they look like, what it’s like to go up and sit inside of one, what the instrumentation is like inside of it,” Parker said.
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