Those who get to know FUEL co-founder John Moes quickly discover his love of aviation.
Needless to say, we were ecstatic when the opportunity presented itself to be a part of the 100-year anniversary celebration for the Iowa City Municipal Airport (IOW).
Our relationship with the team at the Iowa City Airport goes back a few years when we helped them promote Fly Iowa in 2014. But this challenge was much different than promoting an air show.
Despite being one of the busiest municipal airports in the state, many people in the community are unaware of the airport’s storied history and the amazing things that have occurred there over the years. And even less so about the economic impact the airport currently brings to Iowa City.
“If you dig into this airport and its history, you’ll discover it is the story of the building of a nation,” said John.
The Iowa City Airport is the oldest civil airport west of the Mississippi River still in its original location, and also the first air mail stop west of the Mississippi River. The military trained pilots there during World War II and the the airport played a key role in the expansion of commercial air travel toward the west. There are too many achievements to list, but you can take a deeper dive here:
https://www.icgov.org/city-government/departments-and-divisions/airport/history-iowa-city-municipal-airport
“But this event couldn’t simply look backwards. It had to inspire people while setting the stage for what’s to come,” he said.
This led the team to the theme of IOW 100: “Celebrating the First Century of Firsts”. The event would open the airport to the public, demonstrate its value as an economic engine for the Iowa City area, give history its due, and let people experience things on their terms.