Published May 10, 2011 at 6:47 pm

By Robert Husseman

In the town of Independence — 67 miles from Eugene, population 9,510 — there exists an airport. Not much of one, really.

Two asphalt landing strips, about three-fifths of a mile long. A cluster of hangers and other outbuildings of all shapes, sizes and shades of sheet metal. Of the 189 aircraft based at the Independence Airport, 172 are single-engine planes — small, swift flying machines.

A few hundred feet from the runways is the Starduster Cafe, an old school breakfast-and-lunch joint with pictures and memorabilia deifying past aviators and aircraft decorating its walls.

Flying was once a recognizable leisure pursuit in the United States that tapped into a collective spirit of adventure. Today, bureaucratic controls and national security concerns have turned flying for pleasure into an uncommon pastime.

The Starduster Cafe serves as a gathering place for a close-knit community of aeronautically inclined individuals.

Those are the kind of people Oregon sprinter Bryan Harper identifies with.

“It seems like I always meet someone new and talk airplane talk, or whatever,” Harper says. “It’s become a pretty popular spot.”

On weekend mornings, Harper, a 23-year-old junior and licensed pilot, will drive from Eugene to a two-mile-long grass airstrip called Strauch Field. Ownership is divided between three families, including the Harpers, who live nearby on a thousand-acre, six-generation family farm.

Harper opens up the doors to a tan-colored hangar beside the airstrip and pulls out the four-seat, high-winged Cessna 180 airplane that he and his father, Warren, own. He climbs into the plane’s cabin, maneuvers himself into position on the airstrip and prepares for takeoff.

“He’s got a tail-dragger, so you can’t see anything but the sky (when the plane takes off),” said Oregon hurdler Eric Hersey, an occasional companion on flights. “You literally just have to trust everything he says.”

Harper has taken several Oregon teammates on trips in the Cessna. Food runs are popular, including the 20-minute jaunt north to Independence and the Starduster Café. (Harper recommends the omelets.)

Flying, however, isn’t for everyone. Long-time friend and roommate Travis Thompson has known Harper since their high school days but has never flown with him.

“He’s always like, ‘Coach, want to fly to Seattle? Want to fly to LA? Where you want to go? I’ll fly you,’” said Oregon associate head coach Robert Johnson, who works with Harper and the other Duck sprinters. “I’m like, ‘I’m okay.’”

Harper’s first flight took place on a commercial airliner, just days after he was born. The plane took Harper from his birthplace — Nairobi, Kenya — to the United States.

His father, Warren Harper, with more than 30 years of flight experience, flew a much younger Bryan around in a World War II-era Piper J-3 Cub airplane. Warren would steer the plane from the front seat while Bryan would observe his father, and the world around him, from the backseat.

“As soon as I could reach the stick, I was flying around in the air,” Bryan Harper said. “As soon as I could touch the pedals, my dad had me taxiing off the ground.”

For five years of his childhood, Harper lived with his aunt and uncle, Eileen and Bruce McLellan, at their home in Bend. Bruce, a cardiologist, owned a Cessna 210 and flew regularly between Bend and a branch of his practice in John Day.

Harper grew up into a promising athlete, winning the Oregon Class 4A state title in the 400 meters and coming in second at 200 meters in 2007, his senior year at Junction City High School. He enrolled at Lane Community College’s flight school during his high school years and figured out what he wanted in his future: “I knew I was going to fly, whether or not I was going to do so professionally or privately as a hobby,” he said.

After talks with the Air Force Academy fell through, Harper enrolled at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “The curriculum at Embry-Riddle covers the operation, engineering, research, manufacturing, marketing, and management of modern aircraft and the systems that support them,” according to the school’s website.

The school also had an NAIA athletics program, including a track team. A perfect fit.

Harper described his experience at Embry-Riddle as “kind of miserable.” He made it to NAIA indoor and outdoor national meets as part of the Eagles’ mile relay team, but he was disappointed with the overall experience and left after the school year ended.

“They didn’t have enough aircraft for the amount of students, especially for the flight program I was in,” he said.

“(Track) workouts were interesting. They had more of a distance staff. Not conducive to me and my style. Lot of volume, very little recovery.”

Back in Junction City, Harper’s confidence was deflated. He was unsure of his future competing at the college level.

What he did not know was that his father had placed a call to Grady O’Connor, the head track and field coach at Lane. With some convincing from Thompson, who was competing for the Titans at the time, Harper decided to give Lane a shot. At one of their first meetings, O’Connor told Harper, “Let’s just run your event. No stress. No times, no marks. Just go out and have fun.”

“He saw it, maybe when I wasn’t seeing it,” Harper said.

O’Connor, a former Duck hurdler and football player, recruited Harper out of high school and knew of his capabilities. Specifically, his running style, which O’Connor described as “TV, movie perfect.”

“What jumps out is that he’s so efficient and smooth,” O’Connor said. “Really a model sprinter. So efficient that most coaches, myself included, our temptation is to move him up into the 800. He’s not the most powerful guy, but his fluidity and his relaxed speed really served him well in that 400.”

Harper continued with his flight training at Lane, eventually completing his licensing requirements. Teammates gravitated toward him, his unique interests and his easygoing personality.

“He’s really one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met,” O’Connor said. “He’s a positive model of the student-athlete in all aspects, on and off the track.”

At the 2009 Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges outdoor championships, Harper put together the meet of his career. He captured the 400m title in a personal-best 47.46, finished second at 200m (21.93) and anchored Lane’s 4x100m relay and mile relay teams to victories. He accumulated 38 team points as the Titans won the conference championship.

“He was only with us for one year, but in that one year, he did amazing things for us,” O’Connor said.

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