Ultralights Attend Two Rivers Fly-In |
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Left to right: Four of the pilots who participated in the first-ever Two Rivers Fly-In in Vermillion, South Dakota, were Jerry Konechne, Lowell Rahn, Dean Erickson and Mark Eitrem.
Jerry Konechne flies his powered parachute during one of the local outings held during the Two Rivers Fly-In.
Two Rivers Fly-In host Lowell Rahn prepares to take off with a passenger for a late afternoon flight after a rainstorm passed through.
Lowell Rahn of Newcastle, Nebraska, hosted the first-ever Two Rivers Fly-In at the Vermillion Airport in Vermillion, South Dakota, on July 18-20. A large college town of approximately 10,000, Vermillion had motels and restaurants available for those who didn’t care to camp on the airport grounds, but those who came chose to park their campers on a grassy area next to Rahn’s hangar. Other amenities included excellent bathroom facilities in the airport terminal, plus a couple of chemical toilets on the grounds. The weather was a little questionable, which probably kept people away. Four powered parachutes and one trike flew into the event and several locals showed up to watch. Some of them even opted to take a ride. The powered parachutes took off from a grassy area east of the runways, but sometimes chose to land on the airport taxiway if the grass was wet Friday night they flew down the Missouri River to the outlet of the Vermillion River. The winds were calm, which made for some great flying, and the scenery was pretty good, too. The pilots were able to view the sandbars constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for piping plovers and lesser terns as well as pallid sturgeons, which are an endangered fish species. Saturday morning the pilots got up early and flew over the wooded hills and fields to Newcastle, Nebraska, approximately 8 air miles away. The air was a little hazy, but the winds were calm. Again, it was a great flight.
Rahn and his wife Janice grilled burgers and served baked beans, fruit salad and brownies for supper on Saturday night. While everyone was eating, a storm suddenly came up. It rained hard for about 10 minutes, and then the weather cleared and all were able to fly that evening. Again, the wind was calm and they traveled north of Vermillion to Spirit Mound, which was recorded by Lewis and Clark during their travels up the Missouri River. Indian tribes for miles around held the little hill in awe. The Omaha, Sioux and Otoe believed that spirits occupied the mound and would kill any human who came near.
“I hope to see many more at the fly-in next year,” says Rahn. |
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