I can fly from my home base (Wichita Gliderport, home of Belite Aircraft) over to Stearman Field in about 5 minutes. As a result, it makes a great lunch destination, and I consume about a $1.50 of gas on the round trip in my ultralight aircraft. Awesome.
Stearman Field used to be Benton Airport. I paid it my first visit about 30 years ago, shortly after I got my private ticket and needed a plane to rent. It had a small dingy office, fuel for sale, and a mechanic somewhere in the shed in the back. The runway was lined with some homes.
That was then... today, Stearman Field is a busy place, with a new office/restaurant; an outdoor eating area, many new hangars, new homes, new runway extensions, instrument approach... the new owners have made a world of difference.
The restaurant is great -- providing a feel of flying nostalgia along with awesome greasy breakfasts and wonderful burgers for lunch. I've slipped in there several times in the last month. I managed to get over there before Oshkosh, and I had flown over in the yellow trike.
Here's a photo of the lunch counter, along with all the airplane nostalgia:
Nice, right?
Folks couldn't help but stop and look at the Cub Yellow Trike, and I took their pic from my dining table:
The Belite Trike is a great vehicle for taking in the local airstrips. It looks and flies like a real airplane, and it sure makes everyone stop and look at it.
You can read more about Stearman Field by clicking on this link.
You can read more about our Trike by clicking on this link.
Thank you, and enjoy your meal!
