Dreams take flight at the inagural Wings and Wheels show at Kelowna International Airport – Okanagan

Being steps away from the runway at the Kelowna International Airport is just as rare as a rainy day in the Okanagan, but both happened at the inaugural Wings and Wheels Show which boasts rows of classic cars and imports, motorcycles and airplanes.

“You can get up close and personal with the aircraft, with the pilots of the aircraft, talk to them, talk to the people with the cars,” said Kent Hardisty, Kelowna Flying Club president.

“[Being] airside as well, people like to come out to the airport and just watch the airplanes take off and land.”

The Kelowna T Hangars at YLW were buzzing with hundreds of people all hoping to get an up-close look at the spectacle designed to help the next generation dream of an aviation career.

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“I was that little kid sitting in the back of the car looking at the planes and I said, ‘One day I hope I can fly,’ and as soon as I joined the military first thing they said what do you want to do I said, ‘I want to fly’ so I became a pilot after that and have been flying since then,” said Ariel Tyk, Wings and Wheels organizer.

“Now looking at the little kids walking by and looking at that I see myself.”

Tyk is showing off his Super Petrel Seaplane at the event which displays just how far the technology has come since the first successful powered airplane was flown by the Wright Brothers in 1903, more than 100 years ago. Sixteen years after that first flight, Andrew Kiesewetter’s 1919 Ford Model T Runabout was built, which he has been caring for for three years and has driven to the Wings and Wheels show.

“By modern standards, she is horribly unsafe, completely crazy to drive because the breaks are dodgy but incredibly hilarious to drive. It’s such an enjoyable contraption to drive,” said Kiesewetter who is a member of the Vintage Car Club of Canada Okanagan Chapter.

Even though the rain deterred a few people from bringing their cars to the event to show off, there were so many planes, cars and motorcycles on display that the show was spread out over two venues. After visitors were done cruising the rows at the T Hangar, they were invited to KF Aerospace to check out the bigger planes being restored.

One of the planes on display is the De Havilland Mosquito which is a bomber that was one of the fastest aircraft in the Second World War. KF Aerospace says that there are only 30 of left in the world and only four of them are still considered airworthy, including the one being repaired in Kelowna.

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