Wings make wishes come true
Berl Tiskus
Wings for Wishes
Berl Tiskus
Clark Hymas, left, starts his plane with help from his friend, Doug Bowman. The plane is built to scale, 35 percent as big as a normal plane.
Berl Tiskus
Clark Hymas controls his plane as it glides into the wild blue yonder.
Berl Tiskus
Wings for Wishes
Berl Tiskus
All ages enjoy the planes at the Wings for Wishes field on Minesinger Trail. Pilots flew their planes, spectators watched and food was available for the hungry.
Berl Tiskus
Wings for Wishes
Berl Tiskus
Clark Hymas
Berl Tiskus
Wings for Wishes socks
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POLSON — “I’ve loved planes since I was little,” Clark Hymas said, eyes on the plane flying into the cloudy sky and hands on the controller.
Hymas, from Richland, Wash., flew his plane, built 35 percent scale of a full size plane, over Chuck Mangel’s field east of U.S. Highway 93 on Minesinger Trail and Farm Road.
Hymas joined other aficionados at Wings for Wishes, a fundraiser for Montana Make-a-Wish Foundation on Aug. 17 and 18.
Hymas’ plane is nearly identical to a full-size plane “except the power to weight ratio is just crazy,” allowing Hymas to do things full-size planes can’t, such as “hanging on the prop.”
Also involved into the sport, Eric Kendall organized the event, which he began in 2011 after a friend’s son was chosen by Make-a-Wish. The landing fee is $25, which basically gives the pilots the right to fly. Pilots take turns on the closely cropped “runway.” Also, the local flyers raised money with a silent auction, a raffle and a food booth.
Hymas said he asked Kendall, “Hey, I like what you did here. Can I copy it?”
Kendall gave Hymas the guidelines, and he’s has now done two similar fundraisers in Washington. Kendall also has friends in West Virginia and South Dakota who have organized a Wings for Wishes.
The events are becoming more family oriented, too.
To interest kids, Manfred and Sharron Schneider, Polson, offered free flight simulator lessons in their motor home.
“I want to get kids away from video games,” Manfred said.
“You can fly if you are big enough to hold the transmitter and coordinate,” Kendall said.
With 18 registered pilots and their families and spectators, the first day of Wings for Wishes raised $4,086, or enough for one wish, Kendall said.
