Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center

Even Dr. Forrest Bird himself couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day or a more enthusiastic crowd than present on the day his long awaited aviation museum and invention center opened.

I went down with a friend from Moyie, and as we arrived at 10:15, two things were instantly obvious.

First, Patty Wagstaff was putting on a gut wrenching air show overhead, and second, a couple of Ospreys were voicing their dismay.

Patty was the U.S. National Aerobatics Champion in 91, 92 and 93, as a long time member of the U.S. Aerobatics team, she competed in England in 1986, Canada in 1988, Switzerland in 1990, France 1992, Hungary 1994 and the USA in 1996.

Dr. Bird's driveway was quite steep, I'd say around a 14 percent grade, but we were chauffeured to the top in Bird 1, a 1974 Caddy Limo.

Vehicles were parked for nearly one quarter mile in either direction on Sagle Road.

As we neared the private airstrip, where dozens of aircraft and a large crowd surrounded Dr. Bird, everyone gave a loud cheer just as Patty with her Cirrus Stunt Plane cut the ribbon in a most impressive way.

She cut it with her propeller, upside down and no more than 20 feet off the runway.

Most of the dozen aviators and inventors were on hand, and I saw a local aviator from WWII, Clint Chamberlain, get his picture taken with Ms. Wagstaff.

I talked a bit with Astronaut Dr. John Grunsfeld, who told me he has orbited the Earth over a thousand times and completed four space missions.

I also chatted a bit with Frank J. Cepollina who devised techniques for repairing the Hubbell Telescope without having to retrieve it from space.

We left at 12:30 p.m. with hordes of people still arriving.

The Schweitzer shuttle provided round trips from Sandpoint High School.

A friend from Cow Creek who also attended, told me that he left at 4 p.m. and hundreds of folks were still on hand and steadily arriving.

For information on future museum hours call 208-255-4321 or log into their website at www.birdaviationmuseum.com.

You won't be disappointed.

Brad Buerge

Bonners Ferry