PHOTOS PROVIDED Planes from various years of the Sentimental Journey Fly-In are pictured.

LOCK HAVEN — Visitors to this year’s 40th Sentimental Journey Fly-In, taking place from Tuesday, June 9 to Sunday, June 14, can expect an expanded event that welcomes all flyers and planes, while respecting the rich Piper heritage of the area.

Honoring their upcoming milestone, volunteers are planning a fun-filled family event for everyone.

In 1986, a group of dedicated volunteers banded together to provide an aeronautical reunion in Lock Haven in an effort to preserve the legacy of the iconic Piper Cub. Since then, the event has welcomed thousands of individuals from all walks of life.

This year, volunteers are looking to reboot the Fly-In, making it much more exciting for guests.

A new management team at the Sentimental Journey Fly-in is expanding the event and making it more relevant and fun by modernizing it. To keep up with the times, the Fly-In is enhancing its digital footprint through online marketing, an expanded social media presence and new software to digitize some of its operations.

PHOTO PROVIDED A green antique airplane with a radial engine is pictured above.

The biggest draw of the Fly-in is the camaraderie amongst pilots and aviation enthusiasts who make the Piper Memorial Airport an annual destination.

At its core, the Fly-In remains dedicated to celebrating aviation and inspiring future generations of pilots. Parked on the field during the fly-in will be Aeroncas, Bellancas, Cessnas, Cubcrafters, Luscombes, Pitts, Stearmans, Stinsons, Swifts, Taylorcraft, Wacos and Vans, and just about anything else with wings.

There have been three new fantastic events added to the usual Sentimental Journey line up.

On Saturday, the final day of the Fly In, the gates will be opened for free — no admission charge!

On that day there will be a “Community Day” event running from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. that will feature all the usual events of the week-long Fly-In, including educational forums, a “Kidz Zone” with bounce houses, vendors and food trucks.

PHOTOS PROVIDED Planes from various years of the Sentimental Journey Fly-In are pictured.

Community Day 2026 brings back a short-take-off-and-landing (“STOL”) competition and free airplane rides for kids.

Alan Uhler, Jr., president of the Sentimental Journey Fly-in, is enormously pleased with the addition of these extra events.

“Small planes and enthusiastic pilots have been a vibrant and vital part of the Lock Haven story for 70 years. We’re opening our gates, our arms and our hearts to everybody in the area to come and see both the science and the art of aviation,” Uhler said. “Because the event will be free to both flyers and non-flyers, and will offer unique events like the car show, this is a way for us flyers to say thank you to the community which has supported aviation for so many decades.”

The goal of a STOL competition is to see which plane and which pilot is able to take-off in the shortest distance — sometimes less than 50 feet!

The pilots compete for precision landings, controlling their speed to a landing on a particular spot on the grassy runway. These pilots competing are highly skilled, able to maneuver airplanes with the slightest hint of airspeed.

PHOTO PROVIDED A couple poses for a photo at a Fly-In event.

Weather permitting, visitors can expect 10 to 12 STOL aircraft to participate. It takes great skill to push these extraordinary aircraft around the sky, but it’s great entertainment. After the demonstration, visitors can inspect these unique aircraft, meet the pilots and learn about the exciting world of STOL flying.

Visitors are reminded that small airplanes are highly dependent upon good weather. The STOL competition will require reasonably gentle winds and clouds no lower than 1,000 feet above the ground.

New this year will be the Kids Zone! Kids can check out the bounce houses and crafts for a hopping good time Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

The car show, arranged by the Central Pennsylvania Street Machines, is expected to be a hit as well. Weather permitting, the show will feature at least two dozen exotic autos, including the People’s Choice Award.

Members of the Central Pennsylvania Street Machines club restore, drive, display and compete with vehicles ranging from dune buggies to antiques to sports cars and everything in between. The club is a strong supporter of the Lock Haven community, participating in parades and donating both time and money to worthy efforts.

PHOTO PROVIDED A view of the Fly-In from above is shown.

Sentimental Journey also will be offering free airplane rides to all interested kids from the ages of 8 to 17. This is part of the famous “Young Eagles” program which has been able to give rides to more than 2.1 million kids over the past twenty years. Weather permitting, this event will be hosted by Chapter 1327 of the Experimental Aircraft Association, based in State College. Free flights are scheduled for Friday, June 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and interested students and their parents should gather at the blue tent outside the Piper Aviation Museum, at the west side of the Lock Haven Airport.

Free plane rides are taking place on Youth Aviation Career Day, an event to introduce younger people to the science and art of aviation. This year, there will be recruiters from Aviation Colleges, the Air Force, the Coast Guard and Aviation-related Companies looking to meet young prospective students including Penn State Meteorology, Community College of Baltimore, St. Francis University, Penn College, American Airlines, Piedmont, Nulton Aviation Flight school, Energy Aviation Flight school, Moore Aviation Flight school, FAA recruiting, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Women in Aviation, Penn State police Helicopter display and more.

The STOL flights require good weather, and the Young Eagle flights require even better weather. Pilots will only fly interested kids if the air is reasonably smooth and calm.

Another new addition to this year’s line up is the Wings of Williamsport RC Club who will be there flying and demonstrating their remote controlled aircrafts Thursday through Saturday. Be sure to watch for them!

The organizers at Sentimental Journey ask visitors to be patient and recognize that even in the 21st Century they have no control over the weather and it does what it does.

The 40th Sentimental Journey Fly-In will take place at Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, with tickets priced at $20 for adults, $15 for attendees aged 13-17 and free entry for those 12 and under. A full event pass for the week can also be purchased online.

You can find more information about the Sentimental Journey Fly-In as well as a detailed list of events on their website, www.sjflyin.com.

The Sentimental Journey Fly-In is currently looking for volunteers to help out with the event. Anyone that is interested, email sjfly-in@hotmail.com, or call 570-893-4200 and leave a message.

PHOTOS PROVIDED Planes from various years of the Sentimental Journey Fly-In are pictured.

PHOTO PROVIDED People are pictured at 2025’s Youth Day.

PHOTO PROVIDED The Lindy Sisters are seen during 2012’s Fly-In.