COEUR d'ALENE - "Inland Northwest Airports and Airplanes" is the topic of a program at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library Thursday, June 21, at 7 p.m.

Eugene Soper, author of "COE: The First Sixty Years, The History of the Coeur d'Alene Airport," will go beyond the subject of his book in his presentation in the library Community Room, 702 E. Front Ave.

Soper will tell flying stories, present historical information and show photographs about the development of regional airports and their influence. He will begin the talk with barnstorming and how pilots used barnstorming as a way to fly with someone else paying for the gas.

Soper will discuss different types of recreational airplanes and some of the unique ones that operated in our region. His talk will also include local airports today and their role as an economic gateway to North Idaho.

His book was published this year by the Museum of North Idaho Press. The Coeur d'Alene Airport, now west of Hayden, was previously located on the land that is now the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

This free program is co-sponsored by the Museum of North Idaho and the Coeur d'Alene Public Library. Soper will sign copies of his book. Sales will benefit the museum and library.

Soper was born in Lincoln, Neb., in 1930. In 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, he and his family migrated to Idaho with a covered wagon, taking up residence in New Plymouth. His father being a baker soon had the local bakery operating profitably. In 1940 the Soper's Monogram Bakery moved to New Meadows where five years later the author began taking flying lessons. These lessons and the last three years of high school he financed by buying, fixing and selling cars.

Moving to Coeur d'Alene in 1949 Soper went to work for Gage Air Service in Kellogg. He obtained his Private Pilot certificate, and traded one of his cars for his first airplane, a 1940 Piper J-3 Cub. This was soon upgraded to a 1946 Aeronca Chief, which he had when he married his wife. Needing a better income he soon was employed by a local construction company as a heavy-duty diesel mechanic. He remained in this profession for 25 years. In 1976 he left the construction trade and established a Heavy Duty Diesel Mechanic program for North Idaho College, remaining there until retirement in 1992.

Never losing his love of airplanes and flying, he would fly anything, anytime the opportunity presented itself. Early on he earned his Airframe and Power Plant Mechanic license, as well as his Commercial Pilot certificate with Multi-engine, Seaplane and Glider ratings.

On summers off while teaching school he flew with a Flying Circus, barnstorming around the Northwest in an old open cockpit Travel Air 4000 bi-plane. Being a "born" mechanic he was always interested in a plane that wouldn't fly. He was also listening for a pilot that wanted to buy one that would fly. With nearly 300 different "N" numbers in 13 log books, he thought about writing a book whenever he grew up.

Soper was inducted into the Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame in November 2010.