Sponsorship Opportunities
To Inquire About Custom Sponsorship Opportunities, Call 570-893-4200
Sentimental Journey is a tradition which began in 1986 with a group of enthusiastic volunteers hosting an affordable, small-town, family-friendly fly-in. Conveniently located in central Pennsylvania, the Fly-in is just an hour from five states and almost 500 G.A. airports.
Our goal is to spread the word about the scientific, intellectual, emotional, and economic benefits of general aviation. Our planned Youth Aviation Career Day amplifies this focus, with airlines, armed forces recruiters and aviation companies recruiting at the Fly-in, Young Eagle flights, rocketry, forums, and similar programs all bringing young people into aviation.
For the 40th edition of Sentimental Journey, we have set a target of attracting 1,000 people and 200 airplanes to the festival, generating about $1 million in economic impact to the community and our sponsors.
We hope you will consider some of these options and allow our experts to tailor them for your organization and your marketing program.
Sponsorship Options
Forum Tent
Every year at Sentimental Journey, industry experts present approximately twenty forums on topics related to aviation, aircraft, and flying adventures. Each seminar is attended by five to forty visitors. Topics include the maintenance of tube-and-cloth aircraft, careers in aviation, Penn State’s rocket program, factors to help local airports be more successful, and a presentation about Stinson aircraft.
For 2026, the Fly-in is hosting the forums in a marquee tent, with chairs, lighting, and audio/video equipment. The tent will be centrally located between the campgrounds and the food vendors. The forum tent will become a hub for the whole fly-in, so the tent will be busy and highly visible all day, every day.
Suggested Sponsorship: SOLD
Feather Flags and Entrance Arch
Sentimental Journey has three entrances: two for cars and a main gate for pedestrians. Vehicle access from the east is on a road which swings east of the airport runways. From the west the road winds past the Piper Aviation Museum. The main “walk-through” entrance, pilots use after they have parked their planes. Our volunteers work at all three locations to greet visitors and sell wristbands.
For 2026, we will deploy a bright and beautiful balloon arch over the walk-through entrance while the vehicle entrances will be decorated with a line of 24 feather flags promoting the Fly-in sponsors. These high-impact designs will welcome our visitors, build on the party-like atmosphere, and create a sense of excitement that reinforces our goal to be “America’s family-friendly fly-in.” The balloon arch will be refreshed every other day, for a total of three arches, while the feather flags will remain in place for the entire week.
Suggested Sponsorship: PENDING
Spot Landing Contests (2 Days)
The Sentimental Journey Fly-in is all about flying. Unlike many airshows where planes are tethered to their parking spots, at this Fly-in the pilots are invited to aviate every day. One of the most popular events is the spot-landing contest, held on the turf runway on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon. Large crowds line the runway with cameras and lawn chairs. Skilled judges adjudicate each attempt, determining who can touch down the closest to (but not before!) a bright white chalk line painted across the turf runway. Each pilot is offered three chances. The event is narrated by a professional announcer using the public address system, so visitors can watch the action and be informed about the developments. Winners receive their awards at the Friday evening Awards Banquet.
Suggested Sponsorship: $3,000
STOL Demonstration
While Sentimental Journey is home to all the J-3 Cubs Piper ever produced, more powerful and modern airplanes dazzle the crowds with their short take-off-and-landing performances. The two Saturday STOL demonstrations features a group of highly skilled pilots flying Carbon Cub aircraft, with bigger engines, tundra tires, and STOL performance engineered for back country flying. This exciting event attracts large crowds along the flight line. The event is narrated by a professional announcer using the public address system, so visitors can watch the action and be informed about the developments.
Suggested Sponsorship: $2,500
Young Eagles Event
On Friday and Saturday at Sentimental Journey hundreds of young people enjoy airplane rides using the “Young Eagles” program operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association. Volunteer pilots from across the mid-Atlantic states gather in front of the Piper Museum and provide as many rides as are needed, hoping to truly engage those young people with the science and adventure of aviation. In 2025, a total of 124 youths enjoyed their rides over the City of Lock Haven and the forests of central Pennsylvania. This sponsor would be featured on the signs at the registration tent and on the fence at the ramp.
Suggested Sponsorship: $2,500
Historic and Exotic Aircraft Display
Pilots bring interesting, unusual, and antique airplanes to the Fly-in for visitors to admire. Examples include a Breezy home-built, a one-of-a-kind WACO biplane from 1934, a Taylor Aircraft E-2 manufactured in 1932, a short-wing Piper with four tires, and 1930 Davis D1-K (photo, right) which earned a Lindy award at Oshkosh. Many of these fly during the week, some of them every day. Each airplane is identified with a sign that describes the unique history of the plane, and those signs would carry the sponsor’s name and logo.
Suggested Sponsorship: $2,000
Skydiving Demonstration
On Friday and Saturday at approximately lunch time Sentimental Journey will host a skydiving demonstration. This will involve a small group of highly experienced jumpers who will attempt spot landings on the turf runway. Highly skilled jumpers can hit a target that can be as small as a quarter. This event will be narrated over the public address system following the morning spot-landing contest. Because of this prime-time slot, the crowds are expected to be at their peak for this event.
Suggested Sponsorship: $1,500
Museum and Flightline Tram Tour
Sentimental Journey operates two antique four-wheeled trams which are pulled behind farm tractors. The tram originates at the main entrance and trundles along the flight line exploring interesting aircraft parked at the Fly-in. It terminates at the Piper Museum and the Young Eagles tent. Approximately twenty passengers can be carried on each trip, and visitors hop-on and hop-off at their convenience. The tram is a very popular feature of Sentimental Journey and is especially favored by parents with kids. The driver narrates the ride and will feature the sponsor in their comments, as well as on the tram itself.
Suggested Sponsorship: $1,500
Powered Parachute Demonstration
The town of Jersey Shore is just fifteen miles northeast of Lock Haven and is the home of a vibrant group of powered parachute aficionados. For 2026, that group will exhibit their aircraft at the Fly-in twice — Friday morning and Saturday morning — performing an aerial ballet that is stunning to see. This would be a breakfast event because of the need for relatively calm winds for their flying. Signs would bear the sponsor’s name and logo, and the public address system would narrate the event and include references to the generosity of the sponsor.
Suggested Sponsorship: $1,500
Awards Banquet
The Friday night Awards Banquet is always one of the highlights of the entire event. Held in the capacious Piper Museum, approximately 125 guests are treated to a hearty buffet dinner produced by a local restaurateur. The dinner features live music, a prominent guest speaker, and an awards ceremony honoring the planes, pilots, and volunteers who make the Fly-in so memorable.
Suggested Sponsorship: $1,500 (shared)
Youth Aviation Career Day
Friday is Youth Aviation Career Day at Sentimental Journey. The objective is to demonstrate to teenagers the range and diversity of careers in aviation — much more than mere piloting — including engineering, software design, meteorology, airport management, logistics, public safety, and much more. For the 2026 event, currently sixteen companies and schools have agreed to participate and send their recruiters, including the Army with (potentially) a Chinook helicopter. There also will be forums on Friday specifically targeting careers in aviation. Participating companies include seven colleges or flight schools, one airline, two public safety organizations, and others.
Suggested Sponsorship: SOLD
Hot Air Balloon Static Display
On Friday and Saturday, a group of lighter-than-air enthusiasts will offer static displays of their hot air balloons. Flying hot-air balloons requires an FAA-issued pilots license, and the judgment and skill required is substantial. If the weather permits, a small number of visitors may be able to enjoy static rides where the balloon lifts off the turf and climbs to about one hundred feet before slowly and gracefully returning to land.
(Note: file photo, not from a prior Sentimental Journey event.)
Suggested Sponsorship:$1,500
Model Rocketry with Penn State Rocket Club (Fri and Sat only)
For 2026, the Model Rocketry Club at Penn State is hosting two opportunities for teenagers to build their own model rockets and launch them into the sky, right at the airport. Penn State has a very sophisticated rocketry program, and many of their graduates find jobs at NASA, SpaceX, Lockheed, and similar companies. For this event they will be bring that expertise to Lock Haven, and they will showcase some of their larger rockets they have assembled which can reach 60+ miles into the stratosphere.
Suggested Sponsorship: SOLD
Radio-Controlled Airplane Demonstration (Fri and Sat only)
The 40th edition of Sentimental Journey will feature one of the most popular events, radio-controlled airplanes. These demonstrations will be on the South Field, which is mowed tight to simulate a turf runway, and the planes are provided by the Nittany Model Airplane Club who will bring 30 or more model airplanes and fly roughly half of them. Children and parents will gather along the runway to watch and wander among the aircraft on display.
Suggested Sponsorship:$1,500
Harley Motorcycle Show (Saturday Only)
The Susquehanna Valley “Big Twins” Motorcycle Club delivers an impressive perspective on two-wheeled technology. Owners and enthusiasts bring their big Harleys from all across central Pennsylvania to be admired by the visitors. Usually the owners are on hand to discuss specific features and the history of their vehicles.
Suggested Sponsorship: $1,500
Frisbee Competition
As part of the “Kidz Zone” event at the Fly-in, one event is the delightful Frisbee toss contest. Every participant gets three chances to toss their Frisbee the farthest. Contestants are grouped by age. The sponsor’s name is on the Frisbees, and all the kids get to take them home as souvenirs. This is one event that parents and kids really love.
Suggested Sponsorship: $500
Flour Drop Competition
Another fun event is when pilots take their turns dropping a one-pound bag of flour at a target on the turf runway. This is surprisingly hard to do accurately and the narrator, using the public address system, always gets great laughs from the crowds at some of the antics pilots attempt.\
Suggested Sponsorship: $500
"Duck Dive" 50:50 Competition
One fund-raiser that has been a long-standing crowd-pleaser at Sentimental Journey is the Duck Dive, replacing the old-style golf-ball drop. Hundreds of rubber duckies have been labeled with unique numbers, and participants “buy” a duck.! Then all the duckies are dropped from a low-flying plane at a kiddie-pool on the turf runway, and the duckie that is the closest is the winner, and splits the prize money 50:50 with the Fly-in.
Suggested Sponsorship: $500
Patrons
Organizations and companies that wish to support Sentimental Journey can be recognized with a business card advertisement on the web site, with a link to their own home page, and their name or logo on the entrance banner and the main gate billboards.
Suggested Sponsorship: $250