Annual benefit for Red Cross gets off the ground

By Donathan Prater

Published: March 8, 2008

They’re complex flying machines with propellers, wing flaps and engines that make lots of noise.

But perhaps the most valuable thing the assortment of about 50 aircraft and military vehicles at the Heroes Take Flight Fly-in produced this weekend in Teddy Hampton’s opinion, were the smiles on the faces of the children that got to see them up close.

Hampton is board chairman for the Lee County Red Cross, which hosts the annual fly-in at the Robert G. Pitts Airport in Auburn.

Hampton, a Smiths Station resident, is also a Vietnam veteran that piloted both an H-model Huey and a G-model Cobra attack helicopters during his time in the military.

This weekend marks the fifth year the Lee County Red Cross has hosted the event. While there has always been a strong presence of both past and current military at the fly-in in previous years, it’s become an event area families equally enjoy, according to Jennifer Ryan, executive director of the Lee County Red Cross.

“It’s a fun day and a chance for the average citizen to get to see World War II aircraft and military vehicles they normally wouldn’t get a chance to see,” Ryan said.

Among some of the other featured fly-in vehicles were a T-6 Texan, an LT-6D Mosquito (used in Korean War) and a DC-3 piloted by Griffin, Ga., flight instructor and former chief pilot for Delta Airlines Dan Gryders.

For those in attendance, the DC-3 may have looked like just another plane, but Gryder knows the 1938 plane literally represents a revolution in the way people travel.

“This plane brought the industry of commercial airline travel into existence,” Gryder said as he pointed at the 30-passenger, twin-engine airliner of which only about 14,000 were manufactured.

Gryder took a number of Red Cross volunteers on flights Saturday.

“Anything to support the Red Cross,” said Gryder.

The next Fly-In event will be March 14, 2009.

All proceeds from the Heroes Take Flight Fly-in will benefit the Lee County Red Cross.