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The convention brings together pilots, aircraft and enthusiasts of
liaison and spotter planes used since World War I. Aircraft expected
to be at this year’s gathering include the Cessna L-19 "Bird Dog,"
L-17 "Navion," L-3, L-5, L-21, PT-19 and the O-2. Forty to 50 of
these vintage and restored aircraft will be at the Keokuk Municipal
Airport during the convention. The event has become a favorite stop
for the pilots of these aircraft.
Lindner Aviation of Keokuk serves as host and organizer of the
International
L-Bird Convention, which has met in Keokuk since being lured
here by Irv Lindner in 1989. In 1991, the Liaison Pilot Association
and the International Birddog Association combined their conventions
and have voted each year to return to Keokuk. The gathering gives
spectators an opportunity to see and appreciate these aircraft,
which were such an important part of the war efforts of the past 75
years.
You will want to mark your calendar for Saturday morning and plan
on coming to the Keokuk Municipal Airport. There will be a pancake
breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. This will be a great opportunity to see
the planes and meet the pilots that fly them. At 10 a.m., bomb drop
and spot landing competition begins, testing the abilities of both
the aircraft and pilots. You will also have an opportunity to look
around the Keokuk Municipal Airport, a great asset to this area and
recognized as one of the finest general aviation airports in the
state of Iowa.
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 Last year, the convention attendees, representing 28 states and
three foreign countries, pumped approximately $150,000 into the
local economy.
"The participants love Keokuk and have adopted it as their home
away from home for this convention," said former Keokuk resident and
International Birddog Association life member Keith Carter.
Many of these pilots spend the week at Keokuk and then fly their
aircraft together to Wisconsin's annual Experimental Aircraft
Association gathering, simply referred to as Oshkosh.
So, when you look up in the sky and see low-flying aircraft in
formation, think of the warbirds, think of freedom, then come and
enjoy the L-Bird Convention at the Keokuk Municipal Airport.
[News release from the
Keokuk Area Convention &
Tourism Bureau; LDN]
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