30th Annual Classic and Antique Fly-In This Saturday

by Krista Norton | October 9, 2025

The 30th annual Classic and Antique Fly In will be held Saturday, October 11, at the Hamilton County Airport, hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EEA) Chapter 377. 
Every year the annual Fly-In brings young and old to the local airport to look at vintage planes. The featured aircraft this year is local pilot and former owner of Syracuse Flying Service, Dusty Dowd’s YAK-11. 

His Yak is a post WW ll Russian trainer built circa 1951. It is believed to have last flown in 2017. Originally the engine had 300 horsepower, but after its restoration, it now has 1600 horsepower.   
“This is similar to the one I had and raced in Reno, winning the silver in 2016,” said Dowd. 
Dowd had heard rumors about this plane, and even talked to the guy after he finished the restoration in 1995. “He was a Lockheed engineer, and the restoration on this plane was completed to the standard like an engineer, would,” explained Dowd. 

“I have never seen anything equal to it; it’s a beautifully done airplane and the attention to detail in unbelievable!” He added, “I knew it was for sale but he wanted a tremendous amount of money for it. I told him that from what I heard, I’m sure it’s worth it, but it’s beyond what I’m willing to pay.”  
It was stored in a hanger in California until 2017, when a friend of Dusty was hired to fly it to Phoenix, where it was once again stored. 

At the time, the owner told me he was going to sell everything he had for cash and live his life out on his sailboat, a goal he achieved, as they found his body decomposed on a sailboat. 

“There was an auction sequence that I ignored twice, but I was the “successful” bidder the third time,” Dowd laughed. “It may take several years for me to figure out whether I was successful or not!”
“The reason I bought it is to race,” said Dowd, “I feel it was a fair price and while my labor is worth nothing, I think I own a hotel in Phoenix!” 

He left Syracuse on October 28, 2024, with intentions to fly it back in a couple weeks. “I worked on it every day, dark to dark, for seven months,” said Dowd.
Due to the extreme summer heat in Phoenix, he had to replace everything rubber which included 26 hoses that carry fluid. 

After months of work, it was time for a test flight. After one hour, everything went well. So he gathered his belongings and began the three-hour trip to Syracuse, flying at 255 mph. Dowd estimates there are maybe 15 of these planes flying in the world today. 

One may wonder, how did these Russian trainers make it to the United States? Dowd explains post WW ll, they were sold to Egypt. “Egypt put guns on them and when they were finished with them, they were left to rot.” 

That is until a man named Jean Salis, brought 27 of them out of Egypt to France and later began selling them, not the whole plane, but in pieces and the parts, all over the world. 

Dusty recalls a scene from the movie The French Connection, starring Gene Hackman, “There was a guy in a barn, and they were beating on the planes (Yaks).” He said, “If you look behind, you’ll see stacks of wings, so my wing from either of my Yaks could very well have been in that movie.”  

While enjoying the aircrafts, people can also enjoy hamburgers, polish sausages, hot dogs prepared by the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook off is also held during lunch, with several kinds of delicious chili, made by community members, competing for one of the $50 prizes and bragging rights as a winner at the Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook Off.