By Lee Lawrenz
News-Chronicle
The sign by the road is both cute and clever-Rio Creek International, home of the Rio Creek Aviators. Elevation, 717 feet.
For soft-spoken and amiable Don Walter, 65, owner of Walter's of Rio Creek, a longtime farm implement dealer, agri-center and garden center owner and former postmaster, the Rio Creek Airport he formed on his property in 1973 remains very special to him. It's a place that welcomes visitors in their colorful aircraft and brings warm camaraderie amongst aviation enthusiasts.
On a recent Saturday morning in May, four members of the flying club-Walter, his son-in-law, Brian Dauck, Casco; Don Jahnke, Green Bay; and Wayne Worachek, Algoma-took the time to gaze as Katie Schultz, Kewaunee, taking a flying lesson, landed a 1946 Taylorcraft owned by her 82-year-old instructor, Armond Ullmer of De Pere.
"It's a greaser," someone said, admiring the smooth landing. "You should have seen the last one," Schultz responded a few minutes later. "It was a bouncer. I bounced all over."
Katie, 24, is editor of the Rio Creek Aviators' bi-monthly newsletter, which she titled, 'Over the Creek." She started taking flying lessons from Ullmer last August, but has been an aviation enthusiast her whole life, having flown model airplanes as a youngster.
Schultz joined Walter, Ullmer and Jahnke on an air adventure in April when they flew in two planes, which Schultz described as "a pair of short-wing and slightly-equipped Pipers," 1,300 miles to Florida. They then followed the Gulf Coast to the Everglades and the Florida Keys, and visited Jahnke's daughter in Boca Raton before attending "Sun 'n' Fun" in Lakeland, a convention a bit smaller in scope, but similar to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh.
Stops along the way included Pontiac, Ill., Kentucky Dam State Park, Fayetteville, Tenn., followed by stops in Florida at Perry-Foley, Inverness, Wauchula, Everglades City, Marathon Key and Sugarloaf Key. They hit rain on the route home in Alabama, and had to "weather" in a town named Eufaula. Other stops on the way were in Gadsen, Ala.; Waverly, Tenn.; Effingham and Pontiac, Ill.; and Manitowoc.
Schultz said the friendly nature of small town airports seemed universal. "There was always someone willing to lend us a ride so we could find a hotel or get a sandwich, or friendly local pilots who wanted to chit-chat."
The Rio Creek Airport, with its 2,200-foot turf runway and 10 planes housed there, has a similar, friendly persona. Big events there each year are the annual Rio Creek Fly-In (this year on July 12-14) and the Rio Creek Fly-In and Toy Show (Oct. 6).
To get to the airport, one goes west of Rio Creek on County Trunk K, turning by the Rio Creek International sign. The property starts with a narrow dirt road going over the creek through a small part of woods that surprises one by suddenly opening up into a spacious grassy area. The property includes a formerly A-framed clubhouse and several hangars. There's also nearby campsites.
The airport underwent a revival of sorts a couple of years ago when the Johnny Antonneau Airport near Suamico closed and a few flyers moved their planes to Rio Creek.
Among those coming to Rio Creek was Ullmer, an unflappable pilot who has logged approximately 13,000-14,000 hours flying, "filling up 16 logbooks," Walter says, a bit amazed.
Ullmer was recognized by the state last fall for 50 years as an active instructor. A Green Bay newspaper did a piece on Armond, and took a photograph of his airplane, covered with duct tape in colder weather to close some of the openings in the plane which help cool the engine.
Ullmer became an area celebrity when somebody sent a copy of the picture to Jay Leno of "The Tonight Show," who joked about duct tape holding the plane together in his weekly "Headlines from Newspapers" feature.
The local NBC affiliate, Channel 26, Green Bay, followed up with an interview of Ullmer, who gave Leno a standing invitation to come to the Rio Creek Airport and fly with him.
Club members enjoy the fact Armond was a bit embarrassed by the duct tape angle, and tease that he is "the internationally famous duct tape pilot. They used to say there were 1,001 uses for duct tape; now there are 1,002," someone jokes.
Walter, always busy before retirement, wasn't able to get in nearly as much flying time. After retiring, he did put in 100 hours in 2001, compared to about 500 hours for all the years before.
Don said he probably became interested in flying because his father's auto and farm implement garage had a flat roof, with an arrow and the words "SUE-19 miles" painted on the roof, indicating to pilots that the Sturgeon Bay airport was 19 miles away.
Walter began taking flying lessons in 1957 in Sturgeon Bay, but due to the cost of lessons and demands of his farm implement business, gave them up. Don, who lost his legs after they were caught in a silo unloader in 1963, became "hooked" again on flying due to Don Wilson, a neighbor who had an Ercoupe. "I could fly it because it didn't have rudder pedals," Don said.
Walter bought his first airplane, a 1949 Ercoupe Club Aire, along with Rio Creek cheesemaker "Sonny" Raasch in 1973. They formed the Rio Creek Aviators flying club in 1975 and Walter got his private pilot license in Milwaukee in 1976.
While Don said he doesn't like getting up on a ladder because he's "scared of heights," he loves flying. "When you fly, you forget everything else, and just concentrate on flying. I like that."
The Aviators have 15 members and there are seven families, not all members, who have campsites on the property. The nice part is everyone pitches in to maintain the property.
"What helps is we have a mixed batch of talent. Everybody is handy at something," Walter said.
Rio Creek used to be recognized as a public use airport, but to eliminate a public air space requirement so that wind turbines could be erected to the north for a wind farm, it was officially changed to a private airport, Walter said.
Walter said his goals for the near future are to form a foundation which would include a vintage and modern aircraft museum; to provide no-cost flight experiences to children, ages 7-17, through the EAA's Young Eagles; and no-cost camping to non-profit organizations such as church and Scouting groups.
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