Flying the friendly skies of Prairie Village

The unseasonably warm weather and calm skies provided the perfect trappings for an airplane ride over Prairie Village. But since, like, we don’t have an airport, aviation enthusiasts have to settle for the next best thing.

We caught up with John Koehler, a retired dentist who lives just over the state line in Kansas City, Mo., after he landed his radio-controlled stunt plane at Porter Park on Wednesday. Koehler, who still has his pilot’s license, said he used to engage in a bit of daredevilry in a real bi-plane – but is content to stick to the remote controlled version now.

“I can do all the barrel rolls and everything just like in a real plane,” he said. “But this is less expensive.”