After decades of operating as a naval base, the Brunswick Executive Airport recently opened to the public and this weekend it celebrated its civilian opening with the first annual Brunswick International Fly-In. “We had about 300 airplanes fly in for the event, from powered parachutes to a Falcon 900 and everything in between,” said Executive Director Steve Levesque.
In conjunction with the Fly-In, speeches by AOPA president Craig Fuller and Alan Klapmeier, Chairman and CEO of Kestrel which is based at the Brunswick Executive Airport, were followed by a town hall meeting moderated by former acting FAA Administrator, Barry Valentine.
The event was also the launch pad for the Maine Flying Trail – a program designed to encourage pilots to visit 12 participating airports in Maine. Pilots can acquire a passport onto which they can attach stickers from the airports they have visited. Once five stickers have been collected, they can redeem the passport for two lobsters at the Brunswick Executive Airport.
WINGS safety seminars and EAA homebuilt workshops were offered in the afternoon along with a static display of a wide variety of airplanes, and “The Jerks of Grass” provided live music to entertain the crowd.
The Brunswick Executive Airport has two 8,000-foot runways, one of which is closed at this time. There is currently no instrument procedure. The airport is managed by the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA).
