It's show time at city's airport

I arrive at the south end of the airport just before daylight. Standing outside my hangar with no one else in sight creates an empty, eerie feeling.

Then I see headlights at the other end of the airport, over a half-mile away. They go out at one of the hangars. The big door opens and lights up the plane inside.

Red pulsating lights and a bright landing light pierce the darkness as the plane moves toward the runway. I hear the engine as it is pushed to full power, races down the runway and lifts off into the clear, cool morning air. I just stand there watching the plane and its pilot climb and disappear in the freedom of flight.

Sedalia has a long and great aviation heritage. Undoubtedly Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first to take to the air over Sedalia. They flew demonstration flights at the Missouri State Fair in their Wright Flyer just a short time after their maiden flight.

Transportation always has been the key to any successful city.  Whether it is by railroad, highway or air, our products and goods must make it to the market. And we demand that we also get to where we’re going in a reasonably convenient way. No major city in Missouri is without at least two federal highways and at least one airport.

I would venture to say that we would not have had any major industrial growth without our excellent airport. Corporate executives from far flung headquarters need to visit their facilities firsthand to plan progress and return home in a reasonable time frame. It’s the way we operate in today’s business world. Thanks to our City Fathers, the airport has progressed along with the growth of the city.

When I first became familiar with the airport we only had one runway (5-23) 2,400 feet long.  After World War II the runway was extended to 3,600 feet.

The first business aircraft I remember operating out of Sedalia belonged to Menefee Construction. Babe Menefee used the twin-engine plane to travel to highway jobs all over the state, sometimes landing on the unopened paved stretches to check on the projects.

We received one of the first instrument landing approach systems, the ADF (automatic direction finder), and it is still in use today.

Sedalia Memorial Airport’s three-letter identifier, DMO, is found on your FedEx and UPS packages.

Today, with GPS and up-to-date instrument approaches, our 5,500-foot north-south runway allows most corporate and personal jets (think fair entertainers) to operate safely in and out of our city. We have the finest public airport facilities in west central Missouri and they are yours to experience.

If you go out to the airport for Saturday’s fly-in, you will see people all over the place.

Airplanes of different shapes and sizes will be in the air and parked on the tarmac. The airport will be buzzing with activity.  It’s show time. Enjoy!