Livingston’s Fly-In/Cruise-In event returns to the airport Saturday.
Airport Board Chair Jason Duke said the free event will have live music, a car and truck show, food, and airplane rides for a fee. Duke said the focus is to show everyone what the airport is used for and get them excited about general aviation.
“I love to give airplane rides to people that (have) never been off the ground,” Duke said. “To see the happiness and hear the laughter and see how much people enjoy getting to fly. Some people are afraid to fly and this kind of breaks some of that fear for them. Lot of neat questions come from people about planes and airports and how they’re ran.”
Duke said the airport is a great venue because of the long runway for car shows and the hangar for musicians to perform in. Duke said they need to teach the community about the airport because it serves a vital commercial and business purpose for Livingston.
The event takes place from 9:00am to 3:00pm.
“It’s neat to show people how important it is for businesses to use the airport,” Duke said. “For doctors that fly in to work at the local hospital, for businesses that fly parts into the area, for people who might be coming in to visit Dale Hollow Lake or visit Livingston itself, or to look at possibly buying a home in the area or locating a business in the area.”
Duke said the event was much simpler when it began six years ago and only offered airplane rides. Duke said the event will be very similar to the previous Fly-Ins the airport has been hosting each spring and fall.
“We do have two types of aircrafts for rides,” Duke said. “Sometimes when possible we do helicopter rides but that’s always a little harder to get in addition to airplanes. And then the car show has grown to go from just cars to also be cars and trucks and we’ve also split that out into a new, like post-1980 group and a pre-The International Longshoreman’s Association’s ongoing strike has the potential to do serious damage to the US economy.