If it seemed that there were lots of planes flying around Brewton on Saturday, there was a reason to think so. A group of pilots were taking the opportunity to use the Brewton Airport to practice their stunts.

Airport FBO manager Freddie McCall said there are a good number of pilots who like to come to Brewton.

“They need a good place to practice the stunts that they fly in contests,” McCall said. “They like Brewton because we have the long runways they need and we welcome them to use our facility. While they are here, they are buying fuel from us and we are helping each other. It’s always a fun group when they all get together. We also have a group of people who come out here to on Saturdays to fly their remote controlled planes. We have enough space for both. Everything is worked out ahead of time to make sure the Navy is not flying at the same time.”

McCall also said that sometimes the Navy plans to be flying in Brewton, but their schedule changes, leaving more time for the visiting pilots.

The pilots and spotters who flew in on Saturday live in a world of their own. They stay in touch and there is nothing planned about these practice days.

There were several types of aircraft there on Saturday, from the small biplane Cessna Pitts to the larger Russian Yak and the Chinese CJ6, both of which were originally military trainers.

There were two of the Chinese CJ6 Nanchangs who flew into the Brewton Airport in formation which made quite a sight. Later the Russian plane joined them and they flew off together, and returned to do a fly over.

Louis Raue and Johnny Wacker flew in from the Mobile area, Jeff Strawn from Pensacola flew in on the Yak, Joe Torrey and his son, Ben, came from Monroeville. “We like the Brewton Airport,” Raue said. “We have what we need here and Freddie and Darlene (McCall) couldn’t be any nicer.”