Politics & Government
Airport Expo Canceled Due to Severe Weather
The Lake in the Hills Airport hopes to re-schedule the aviation show, which had been scheduled to take place Saturday at the airport.
Severe weather Saturday forced the to cancel its first Aviation Expo on Saturday morning.
Airport officials had hoped to use the event to further educate the community on what the airport has to offer.
“We were hoping to show people what’s available here at the ; introduce people to aviation,” said Manny Gomez, deputy public works director for the . “We were hoping to show pilots flying in; see the different aircraft. We were hoping to show people some new planes and show them the different services they maintain.”
Find out what's happening in Algonquin-Lake In The Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Severe Weather Rains on Expo's Parade
Gomez, who also is the manager of the village-run airport, said they began setting up for the event before 9 a.m. Saturday.
Find out what's happening in Algonquin-Lake In The Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Vendors from the area set up booths and suppliers were on hand to talk about aircraft sales, aircraft maintenance, flight school and insurance options.
Outside, officials prepared aircrafts like the Cessna Citation 2, Piper Warrior, Cessna Skyland 182 and Cirrus SR 22 to put on display for visitors. The airport also had breakfast food such as doughnuts and coffee for attendees to buy.
Shortly after setup, a strong thunderstorm blew through.
“At that point, with the planes out in the open, we made the decision to put them into the hanger and see what would happen with the weather,” Gomez said. “Well the rest was history. We know what happened with the weather.”
The expo was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. but by 10:30 a.m., Gomez made the decision to cancel the event.
Employees Tout Benefits of Airport
A mechanic at the airport, Tom Morton, touted the benefits of having the serve the area.
“It brings in quite a bit of business,” said Morton. “We’re busy most of the time. There are two flight schools and one charter outfit; three total that come in. We have our maintenance facility here. There’s another one on the field. We’re the largest one and I think it’s good for the community.”
Despite this year’s closure, Gomez said he hopes to organize another aviation expo in the future.
“This was our first time we were holding it,” Gomez said. “We couldn’t really gauge the outcome of it because of what happened with the weather, so I think it’s worth trying to do again.”
Lake in the Hills Patch has a video up with interviews talking with airport business owners about why they believe the airport is an asset to the community. The website has more information up on the Lake in the Hills Airport.
