Museum: Come ride in helicopter

While the Open House is free, the rides in the air are not.

An event is coming up in Rome this weekend involving an Aragon resident who has long flight experience at the regional airport.

The Museum of Flight at the Richard B. Russell Regional Airport is holding their annual Hangar Open House event this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event is free to the public and features several activities. Those include tours of the museum, a kids’ building activity with Home Depot, guest speakers, special exhibits, food and much more.

Saturday’s open house will also include special performances, such as a “Thrust versus Torque” demonstration, in which a 25th anniversary Corvette races an airplane.

Civilian helicopter rides will be available for purchase, and for this year’s event, the museum is offering a special opportunity: Military helicopter rides. Seating is limited, and tickets must be purchased prior to Saturday.

A seat in a AH-1 COBRA is $590 each, a seat in a UH-1 Huey is $95 each. Please call 423-228-2FLY (2359) for ticket information.

The museum was established in the spring of 2010, and considers as one of its best features is having planes that actually fly. The aircraft collection includes a T-28 “Trojan Alpha model, also a T-28 Trojan Bravo model and a Beechcraft C-45 along with other military vehicles.

Ken Suffridge, the former narrator for the Sky Soldiers and former mayor of Aragon, will be the Master of Ceremonies.