Breakfast Came With a Runway View

Waukon’s Fly~In Breakfast brought pancakes, planes and neighbors together

There are breakfasts.

And then there are breakfasts where somebody may land an airplane before sitting down to eat.

That was the scene Sunday morning, August 23, at the Waukon Municipal Airport, where pilots, families and community members gathered for the annual Fly-In/Drive-In Breakfast.

From 7:30 a.m. until noon, guests were treated to an all~you~can~eat breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs and beverages, served for a free~will donation. Pilots in command were able to eat free.

The event was sponsored by the Waukon Knights of Columbus, bringing together two things that tend to draw a crowd pretty well in Northeast Iowa:

A good breakfast and airplanes.

For pilots, a fly-in offers the chance to take to the skies, land somewhere new, visit with fellow aviation enthusiasts and grab a bite before heading home again.

For those arriving by car, it offers something a little different from the usual Sunday breakfast.

There are airplanes nearby.

Pilots coming and going.

Children watching the runway.

And probably more than one person pausing between bites when an aircraft rolls in.

There is something fun about seeing a community airport come alive that way.

Most of us may pass an airport without giving much thought to what happens beyond the fence.

But for a morning like this, the runway becomes part of the gathering place.

And for a child watching an airplane arrive up close?

Well, you never know.

That might be the morning a future pilot looks toward the sky and thinks:

“Someday, I want to do that.”