History on display at Carson City Airport open house

Once a year, the Carson City Airport opens its doors so the public can get a close-up look at some amazing machines.

Aircraft owners take the opportunity to open up their hangar doors and roll out their prized planes, many of them living pieces of aviation history.

Planes like the big blue B-25 Mitchell Bomber nicknamed "Tootsie" were popular attractions with the crowd. Everything from modern sport planes to a World War I warplane were arranged on the tarmac for viewing.

"It's just an honor to see what comes out of these hangars," said Dave McClelland, a member of the airport authority and chairman of the open house event. "There is some beautiful history at this airport. These planes have so much history. There are ways to track where these planes flew, what missions they flew. It's just amazing, the history."

A stiff crosswind kept a lot of planes on the ground compared to past years. But that didn't stop Dennis Buehn, a champion air racer who was taking people up for rides in his T-6 Texan.

"We got all the guys to bring out their aircraft and we have a good crowd," said Casey Pullman, airport manager.

"I think when people come to this open house, they think these aircraft are flown in just for the event. But probably 99 percent of them are based right here. There's a lot of gems here."

Kyle Pruitt put on a show with his radio-controlled airplane, wowing the crowd and fellow pilots with his aerial stunts.

Skydivers with High On Life Expo also entertained the crowd.

"I want to thank all the pilots and owners of these warbirds who took the time to clean them up and bring them out to put them on display here," McClelland said. "All of this is a volunteer effort."