ANF Visitors Bureau — by Matt Muller

On my return to Smethport from a year-long teaching assignment at a university in China, I was told of a biplane ride that operated out of Bradford Regional Airport. Would I be interested?

Picturing a rickety crate that would wobble down the runway before risking a tepid leap into the air, it was easy to dismiss the idea. After all, I could quench my thirst for adventure in a variety of other ways — without having to entrust my soul to a patchwork machine ushered back to life with long forgotten parts exhumed from a scrap yard.

After further discussion, more informed opinions prevailed and I allowed myself to be whisked away to the airport, where I was assured a unique experience awaited me in the open cockpit of a Boeing Stearman biplane from 1943. Read more »