The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wings & Wheels event is the ‘best of both worlds’
Ten years ago, Randy Carver took note of the many Carver Financial Services clients who had classic cars. From there, clients asking about showing their cars and telling stories developed into Wings & Wheels.
Wings & Wheels, which took place at the Lake County Executive Airport in Willoughby Aug. 7, has reached its 10th year. The community event is an opportunity to see classic cars and vintage aircraft up close and personal.
The event is sponsored by Classic Jet Center and Carver Financial Services, and it has no
admission, parking charge or registration fees.
“There’s a lot of car shows, but people love airplanes,” said Carver, president and founder of Carver Financial. “I decided, with the cooperation of the city and Classic Jet to do Wings & Wheels. It’s grown every year. We’ll get close to a 1,000 people.”
Wings & Wheels is designed to strictly reach the public, and to have the public come out to see what the airport is all about, said Patty Fulop, manager of the Lake County Executive Airport.
“They (the public) don’t just have to put up with airplane noise. They can actually come out and do some fun things, and it doesn’t cost them,” Fulop said. “It’s a lot of work, but we really enjoy putting it out there.”
Roughly 25 airplanes and 125 cars were in attendance this year in addition to the many spectators the event drew.
“It’s turned out to be a good day. We weren’t sure weather wise and that’s always an issue for us with the airplanes,” Fulop said.
“Some of the lightweight airplanes have to watch the turbulence and other things so they can get in and out when they need to.”
The airplanes and cars in attendance are judged, and most of the airplanes judged are older, Fulop said. “As you look around the hangars, the airport has matured. When I got here, we had one regular jet that was using the airport. That was in 2014,” Fulop said. “Now, we have more than a dozen. We’ve grown and sometimes the neighbors wish maybe we wouldn’t, but the airport is an economic engine for the entire county. In order for businesses to come in, they want to know they can get in, get out, have people come visit their businesses and that drives the economy of Lake County.” Wings & Wheels holds its uniqueness because of having both cars and airplanes on display, both of which are judged the same, Fulop said.
“They’re static displays of aircrafts of everything from vintage to new. It’s bragging rights,” Fulop said. “They get a trophy. For everybody who registers, they get T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, magnetic coffee cup holders, sanitizers, masks, pens and pencils. If they meet somebody and want to write down their information, they have it right at their hands. We try to give everybody a nice variety.”
The Experimental Aircraft Association and the
Photos: For more photos from this event, visit
Civil Air Patrol, as well as food trucks were also in attendance. During World War II, the Civil Air Patrol ran the airport because the gentleman who was the manager at the time went off to war, Fulop said.
“They (Civil Air Patrol) stay in touch with the airport regularly and if we have an event, they like to come out and help be our security,” Fulop said. “This is the public’s facility. We are the stewards and sponsors of it, and it’s deeded to the Port Authority, but it belongs to the public.”
Every outdoor event the airport has put on has seen about one and a half times what it normally would this year, Fulop said.
“People are anxious to get out. We have a hand washing station here, hand sanitizers, and everybody who registered was given sanitizers and masks,” Fulop said. “We wanted to make sure everybody felt comfortable coming gout. It has really come a long way and people seem to embrace it.” Among the many car and airplane enthusiasts in attendance was Andrew
Whiting, of Mentor, who has been coming to Wings & Wheels for the past four or five years.
“Every time I’ve come out here, it’s always been fantastic to see the different airplanes that fly in,” Whiting said. “We get airplanes from all over Northeast Ohio whether they’re old or new. The other best part about this is all the classic cars to see.”
Whiting has always been interested in cars and airplanes for as long as he can remember, he said.
“For me, I really enjoy it because it’s the best of both worlds. I get to see a lot of friends and family I know. We all come out here and catch up. It’s a great social event,” Whiting said. “Today, we have different airplanes out — a corporate plane used for business transportation, an antique called a Howard DGA-8. It’s currently the only one flying in the country. The other airplane we have out here is an XCub, which is used for back country flying and a French, aerobatic trainer.”
“We’re going to continue doing this. I’ve actually thought about doing wings, wheels and water — maybe bring boats out,” Carver said. “Stay tuned.”