Just Plane Fun - The Big Plane Pull

Last Saturday, Dan got up early and headed to the new house to do some gardening.  Since the kids get up at the crack of dawn, we were looking for a good time by 8:00 a.m.  One of my friends had told me about Just Plane Fun, a free event put on by Camp Fire U.S.A.  It takes place every year. Teams of 20 people pull a 100,000 lb. Plane and the team with the fastest pull-time wins!  Admission is free and inside the hangar is a family festival, complete with Carnival Games, Inflatibles, Food& Refreshments, Crafts, Silent Auction, & much more!

I knew William would LOVE this, so I packed up the kids and off we went to the big event.  I explained to William that a Plane Pull was where people try to pull a jet liner with a rope.  At first, he was really confused and told me I had to be joking.  No one can pull an airplane with a rope.  I got a laugh out of that and it took me awhile longer to explain how this would take place in large teams of people.  He sorta got it at that point, but I knew he'd have to see it for himself.

We got to the event right when it started and we were able hit all of the carnival games without any lines.  First, William decorated a goodie bag to store all his prizes from the various games.  He drew an airplane on his bag and off we went.

We stopped at the face painting booth and HAD to get a red airplane.  Then William played some putt putt, ate a few suckers, enjoyed the toilet toss game, ring toss, and bow and arrow game.  We even cashed in some tickets for a ride down the enormous bounce house slide. 









Once William got his fill of the carnival games, we headed outside the hangar to watch all the teams pull the big American Airlines jet.  He realized exactly what I was trying to describe to him earlier and we stood out on the runway watching the plane pull for about 20 minutes.  The weather was great and it was still early in the morning, so very few crowds had formed.  Adeline loved seeing the airplane upclose and made airplane noises the whole time we watched the contest. 

On the far end of the runway was a group of 5 prop planes.  William saw these right off and was so eagar to go study them upclose and in person.  He asked me to take his picture in front of all of them and one pilot even let him climb in for a turn at the controls.  He LOVED this part of the event and we stayed at the prop plane area for a long time. 



After a few hours, more people were starting to arrive.  I asked William if he wanted to stay longer but Adeline was getting squirmy in the stroller and we had pretty much tackled all the event had to offer. 

William had a great time and I am sure we'll go to the Plane Pull next year for sure!