Miss Montana stops in Seeley Lake

SEELEY LAKE – Miss Montana flew into the Seeley Lake Airport Sunday, July 14 as part of the Seeley Lake Fly-in. Seeley Lake Aviation Foundation President Scott Newpower said that this was one way for the Foundation to include the community and get them to come out for the annual event.

Newpower said they had the Fly-in scheduled for the weekend of July 13-14 for the past nine months. On the Monday before the event, the Foundation thought it would be fun to see if Miss Montana would be able to attend. Miss Montana was able to put together a crew to fly up and confirmed Wednesday.

"I can't believe that they were able to come up here [on such short notice]," said Newpower.

The Seeley Lake Fly-in started Saturday night with nearly 40 pilots and aviation enthusiasts. By Sunday morning around a dozen planes and one ultralight helicopter flew in. Around 80 people enjoyed a pancake breakfast and more than 150 people lined the runway to watch the historic plane land.

Miss Montana, tail number N24320, is a historic C-47 aircraft. It was built in the 1930s as part of the United States war effort. Miss Montana's original mission was to serve in World War II, however, the war ended prior to her completion.

The Museum of Mountain Flying took on the project to make Miss Montana airworthy so she could join the D-Day Squadron and the Daks Over Normandy in commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2019. Miss Montana completed the trip and has returned to her home base in Missoula.

Miss Montana has a full travel schedule across the country. Miss Montana's mission continues to be "representing our beautiful state and the brave men and women who sacrificed everything to support their love for this country, their family and the belief that there is no higher calling than to put one's life on the line for the service of their country and the land of the United States."

Stateside, Miss Montana is known as the plane that dropped the smokejumpers that fought the Mann Gulch Fire near Helena in 1949. Twelve smokejumpers and one smoke chaser perished in the fire. N24320 is displayed in the Museum of Mountain Flying as a tribute to those smokejumpers and all smokejumpers that help protect the forests of the United States.

Newpower said the C-47s were designed to land on grass airstrips like Seeley Lake. Miss Montana landed at the Spotted Bear airstrip a couple of weeks ago which is 1,000 feet shorter than Seeley Lake's runway.

"Getting in and out of here is not a big deal," said Newpower.

Newpower said their typical fly-in doesn't really appeal to the community of Seeley Lake. However Miss Montana was a big draw, offering information about the plane and tours of the inside.

"It's [the Foundation's] way to give back to the town here," said Newpower who said the Foundation donated $1,500 to the Miss Montana Organization for the visit. "We are glad to have it up here."