SEQUIM –– Blue hole, gray hole — it won’t stop the flying fun set for this weekend’s Olympic Peninsula Air Affaire.
“It’ll all be fine as long as everybody does their sun dance,” co-organizer Emily Westcott said.
The National Weather Service is calling for a 50 percent chance of rain showers Saturday, but Air Affaire organizers are hopeful the city’s trademark sunshine can cooperate.
Rain or shine, the second annual Olympic Peninsula Air Affaire will take hold of Sequim Valley Airport, 468 Dorothy Hunt Lane, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Admission is $5 per carload.
‘Always more blue sky’
“Don’t let the weather hold you back,” said Captain Crystal Stout, Sequim’s most prominent hot air balloon pilot and Air Affaire co-organizer.
“It’s Sequim. There’s always more blue sky coming.”
An estimated 3,500 people attended the inaugural Air Affaire under sunny skies last Labor Day weekend as the event kicked off to celebrate the city’s centennial and Sequim Valley Airport’s 30th anniversary.
Last year’s aviation extravaganza attracted 33 planes, 110 classic cars, trucks and motorcycles, and Westcott is hoping to see those numbers swell for the sophomore celebration.
“We did a real good job. I heard a lot of real good things last year,” Westcott said. “I think that word got around pretty good.”
Stout will be on hand with her hot air balloon, as will Jeanne Anson of Sioux Falls, S.D.
Tethered balloon rides
Both are scheduled to offer tethered balloon rides at the airport from 10 a.m. to noon, but the weather may force those times to change.
“We’ll go as long as we can,” Stout said.
The rides include a $10 donation to help Stout’s Dream Catcher Balloon Program provide rides to the disabled.
Hot air balloon rides will be offered between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. each day.
Prices vary with conditions.
Pre-sales are available by contacting Stout at 360-601-2443 or airboss@nwplace.com.
“Besides, we still have the fly-in, the music, the car show,” Stout said.
Wing-walking
Two of the performers scheduled to return are Mike and Marilyn Mason of Sequim’s West Coast Spin Doctors.
The Masons plan to put on a wing-walking show in their 1943 Boeing-Stearman early Saturday afternoon.
The Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation will offer free rides in a vintage fighter plane to seniors and veterans.
Diamond Point’s Swift Formation Team’s smoke planes will take over the sky at about 10 a.m. Saturday, with skydivers performing late morning Saturday and Sunday.
The Blackjack Squadron, a formation-flying group based in Arlington, will dance overhead at noon.
Chrome, steel and leather will be displayed all around the tarmac as classic cars vie for prizes in the Air Affaire’s two-day car show and shine.
Saturday’s show will feature a 2 p.m. awards ceremony. Entry is $5.
Participants are welcome to return Sunday, with no awards and no entry fee.
The Tri-Area Radio Controlled Flyers from the Quimper Peninsula will be taking part in the Air Affaire that day.
For more information about Air Affaire, visit www.olympicpeninsulaairaffaire.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
