By SALINA POST
The Fly Kansas Air Tour takes to the skies later this week and will have several area stops, including the Salina Regional Airport.
According to information from the Kansas Commission on Aerospace Education (KCAE), the 2021 tour is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday. The tour will begin at the Wellington Municipal Airport from 8:30-9:30 a.m. Thursday. Other stops include the following.
Thursday
11:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m., Fort Scott Municipal Airport
2-3:45 p.m., Allen County Airport- Iola
5:15-8 p.m., Lawrence Municipal Airport (dinner for registrants only)
Friday
9:45-11:45 a.m., Clay Center Municipal Airport
1:30-3 p.m., Phillipsburg Municipal Airport
5:15-8 p.m., Salina Regional Airport (dinner for registrants only)
Saturday
9:30-11 a.m., Concordia Regional Airport
12:45-3 p.m., Beech Factory Airport- Wichita (lunch and tour for registrants only)
Following is a history of the Fly Kansas Air Tour from the KCAE website.
The Fly Kansas Air tour originally began in 1928 to demonstrate the fledgling aviation industry across the state. The tour was restarted by KCAE in 2008 as a commemorative event to pay homage to the "Air Capital of the World" and aviation clusters around the state of Kansas. Today, the event reaches local communities across the state to promote interest in aviation with a focus on aviation education, pilot camaraderie, and industry development.
The success of the commemorative event in 2008 led to the creation of an inaugural event in partnership with the Kansas Department of Transportation, Division of Aviation in 2014 that is now in its fifth and largest year yet.
The tour has expanded from a handful of pilots, to over 50 individual airplanes visiting local airports across the state. The tour typically visits at least 10 airports across western, central, and eastern Kansas, with events or local community involvement planned at each.