Sheridan County Airport Open House

An open house was organized on Saturday, Aug. 26, by The Sheridan Pilots Association and took place at the Sheridan Country Airport. This event started at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and also featured catering by Glazed and Confused. Attendees were allowed to walk around the tarmac and hangars, experience some of the privately owned aircraft, classic hot rods, and observe some of the equipment from the county that is used to maintain the airport.

The Flying Cowboys R/C Club was in attendance and showed off some of their drones as well. James (J.T.) Grainger, President of The Sheridan Pilots Association and Founder/CEO of Sheridan Pilots 307 explained the organization process of the open house.

Grainger was ecstatic about pilots attending with their planes to share why they enjoy aircraft. He shared his thoughts on how acquaintances of his use planes to help with tasks in their lives.

The Sheridan Pilots Association has been around since 2013 and has recently earned its 501(c) status as a non-profit organization. They have put together open houses in the past with the last one taking place in 2018 before the pandemic. It was sublime to see the public get together and all share a common fascination with aviation. Grainger shared that one of his aspirations is to get the youth to explore this industry.

A wide variety of planes were shown at the event, but one of the most popular planes was a 1942 Boeing-Stearman, owned by Bruce and Rosemary Garber. Bruce Garber explained the history of his plane.

Garber attends fly-ins but explained that there is some difficulty in doing that with a plane that has an open cockpit in the winter. The Garbers have donated to charities and tried to make the plane available to the public as much as possible.

This Boeing-Stearman was used this summer at the Sheridan Wyo Rodeo as one of the planes that flew over the fairgrounds during the national anthem. Garber also explained what flying means to him and how he got bit by the metaphorical bug of loving aviation.

The open house at the Sheridan County Airport had a large attendance and it is clear that there is an interest to be shared in Sheridan and Johnson County among the aviation community. For more information on The Sheridan Pilots Association and the services they provide, visit their website here. If you are interested in flight school and what Sheridan Pilots 307 has to offer, visit here.