Fly-in benefits flight science program

Sisters Eagle Airport will be hosting the annual July 4th celebration to benefit the Sisters High School Flight Science program. This year's theme is Run-Drive-Fly.

Festivities will begin at 7 a.m. with hot-off-the-griddle pancakes, the buzz of arriving planes for the fly-in, and the rumble of classic cars for the hot rod show. The Sisters Rotary will be flipping the pancakes, while planes arrive from all over the Northwest.

New this year will be the Runway Run 5K, which will begin at 8 a.m. Participants can register online at

http://sistersairport.com/july4flyin.php. The $35 entry fee also includes a T-shirt and pancake breakfast. Awards will be given for the top three places in each age group.

The Sisters Fly-in signature event, the Great Rubber Chicken Drop, will take place at 10 a.m. This is a unique raffle-type event performed in true aviation style. Participants can purchase two-by-two-foot numbered squares which are chalked on the runway for $5 each. A plane flies over the matrix, and rubber chickens are flung out. Each chicken represents a specific prize, ranging in value from $50 to $400. The person who purchased the square that each rubber chicken lands on wins that prize.

The July 4th fly-in is a fun community event, and proceeds are donated toward flight-instruction scholarships for students enrolled in the flight science program at Sisters High School (SHS).

One portion of the program consists of a class offered at SHS which integrates the study of aerodynamics, physics, and weather with field trips to aviation-related locations and hands-on simulator and model activities. Students wishing to earn a private pilot license have access to an FAA-approved ground school, and scholarships for flight instruction in Outlaw Aviation's Cessna 172.

Everyone is invited to celebrate July 4th at the Sisters Eagle Airport Fly-in. Admission is free, pancake breakfast is $5 donation. More information can be found at www.sistersairport.com, and Facebook page "Sisters Eagle Airport."