Supply Hangar Goes to Cape Cod

August 19, 2002--Once in a while, if you're paying attention, life will throw you an extra little gift. I was sitting on the beach soaking up the sun in Cape Cod when a beautiful yellow "bird" flew over the calm, blue Atlantic ocean. It had the unmistakable song of a rare old bird--the kind you wish you could acquire and protect for the rest of its life . . . or yours. The beautiful creature had the word "SIGHTSEEING" painted on its sides. There was no mistaking it; that was the 1930 Stinson I had just read about in an article in the April issue of Private Pilot magazine, which covered the history of the Stinson. The "flightseer" as she's called, spends her days at the Provincetown Airport, Provincetown, Massachusetts. She happily takes the adventurous passenger on a sky tour, which includes a breathtaking view of the Provincetown Harbor in Cape Cod Bay, across the entire tip of the peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean.

Owners Bob Callary, Dave Walsh and Dave Stetson purchased the Stinson Detroiter Airliner from the estate of Barbara Gard and Gwen Bloomingdale, who had perished in the icy waters near Iceland in March of 2001 as they were beginning a trip around the world in their 1973 twin-engine Rockwell Aero Commander Shrike. Gard and Bloomingdale had purchased the aircraft for $250,000 with an inheritance and started Willie Air Tours, flying the Stinson over Provincetown during summers and flying over Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Florida during winters.

Gwen Bloomingdale, who was 58 when she died, received her pilot's license at age 50. She was a retired attorney and related to the founder of Bloomingdale's department stores. Barbara Gard, 52, was a retired National Guard Major.

"It took us a while to get her," Callary said, as he stood on the quiet runway watching pilot Dave Walsh maneuver through the sky with another passenger. "There are only five planes like it left in the world."

If you're visiting Cape Cod, it's worth taking a trip to the airport at Race Point Road to take a flight in Willie. You'll get a view of the Cape that you won't see otherwise and the added bonus of flying in a piece of American history.

contact: Bob Callary phone: (508) 487-9989 Provincetown Airport Race Point Road Provincetown, MA 02657

for the Aviatrix Enterprises Supply Hangar

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