Planes in Plains

photos & story by Paige Hall

The plane sits in place while the

propellers increase in speed and the pilot checks flight equipment. Dan Lilja, Plains resident, sits in the cockpit. "I enjoy everything about flying," said Lilja. His actions are automatic after years of flying. Moments later Lilja has his Cessna T-41B off the ground. As the plane gains elevation the airport appears smaller against the Wild Horse Plains landscape.

Lilja uses the airport mostly for business flights. He flies to pick up parts and deliver products for Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels Inc. "I fly for business because it allows me to pick my own schedule.  It also allows me to save time over driving and if compared to flying on the airlines I can usually go to an airport that is closer to my destination than the airlines fly to," Lilja said.

Not only does Lilja use flying for his business but he also enjoys flying recreationally and for personal use. "For recreation I enjoy flying with my family and friends to backcountry airstrips in the mountains and camp and fish," said Lilja.

"I am at the airport for some reason or another on a daily basis," said Lilja.

The Penn Stohr Field airport, which opened October 7, 2006, exists primarily to accommodate medical transportation and air tankers and planes for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. The single runway, built parallel to the old unused runway, is larger and measures 4,650 feet long and 75 feet wide. The wider and longer runway offers better landing and take-off for large fixed wing airplanes.

Prior to Penn Stohr Field, medical transportation was done primarily with helicopters. Using a fixed wing plane decreases the time and cost of transporting a patient. Plains is home to Clark Fork Valley Hospital, the only hospital in Sanders County.

The need for medical air transportation to fly into Plains helped Sanders County receive the grant money to build Penn Stohr Field. Lilja said the airport was primarily funded by a Federal Aviation Administration grant while the State and County combined funded about 5% of the $4 million project.

During the summer months DNRC has a permanent single engine air tanker base at Penn Stohr Field. The DNRC drilled a well at the airport that pushes over 300 gallons of water per minute to fill air tankers and rural fire trucks. Ned Winebrenner, Dispatch Center Manager, Plains DNRC Forestry Unit, said the airport is used frequently during peak fire seasons. In 2007 they used the airport dozens of times per day. During the 2010 fire season there were only twenty flights.

Besides medical transportation and fighting fires, recreational pilots also use Penn Stohr Field airport. People fly in from surrounding Montana towns, Idaho and Washington to attend the Sanders County fair. The week of the fair in late summer there is space available for plane parking and a shuttle bus running between the airport and the fair grounds.

Pilots wanting to fly into Plains for business or recreation can fly into the airport and use the courtesy car and the pilot's lounge. "I also have customers fly here. They plan to use the airport courtesy car and drive to our business," said Lilja.

Inside the lounge there is a fully equipped bathroom, cots for overnight stays, maps and a meeting area. "Sometimes transient pilots will spend the night in the pilot's lounge due to weather keeping them on the ground, nightfall stopping them, et cetera. The cots get used but not too often," said Lilja.

A tribute to Penn Stohr, a Plains native and confident if not daring pilot, is on display inside the pilot's lounge. Stohr grew up in Plains and when he wasn't flying for work he often played pranks from the air. One prank involved throwing rolls of toilet paper out of the plane. He was killed in a plane accident in June of 1957.

After circling Plains multiple times, Lilja radios his coordinates as he angles the plane toward the runway. Approaching the open fields of Plains, Lilja slightly pitches the yoke forward as the nose dips down in preparation to land. The landing seems effortless and the plane is barely jolted as the wheels make contact with the runway.

"I enjoy landings because they're the most challenging.  It is more so if you pick a spot on the runway to touch down on and then hit that spot within a few feet," said Lilja.