The Perry Chamber of Commerce saw its ribbon cut in a high-flying way Friday morning when Jonathan Walter of Walter Aviation Inc., manager of the Perry Municipal Airport, snipped the span by means of his aerial stunt plane.
Upwards of 50 Chamber members and other Perry-area business boosters cheered and clapped as Walter maneuvered his red, white and blue biplane — with colored smoke streaming from the aircraft — through the ribbon and up and over the concrete tarmac of the Perry Municipal Airport.
Walter Aviation Inc. has managed the Perry airport since May 2017, and they consolidated their operations in Perry in October 2017 after wrapping up their work in Independence, Iowa, where the firm opened in 2012.
The company offers a full suite of services, including flight training from primary to commercial certification, sightseeing air tours — including night tours and thrill rides — as well as charter and cargo services, aircraft sales and maintenance and fuel sales.
Walter Aviation Inc. staff members include flight instructors Jonathan and Gretchen Walter and John Erickson of Rippey. Craig Davidson heads up the commercial banner towing operations — the only certified banner pullers in Iowa — with one full-time and one part-time mechanic rounding out the ground crew.
A Tail Wheel Fly-In in May drew a large crowd to the Perry facility for breakfast and a variety of contests, with awards given to the oldest tail wheel aircraft, the “classiest” and the farthest traveled. A grill-out event is in planning for this fall.
