Brasstown It’s not everyday that you spot a Hollywood star in Cherokee County, but many local residents have been doing just that as they’ve seen James Brolin around town.
Brolin is an actor and producer known for his roles in Traffic (2000), The Amityville Horror (1979) and Westworld (1973), according to IMDB. His son, Josh Brolin, is known for his role as Thanos in the Avengers movies.
Brolin was in Brasstown for two weeks in April working with Billy Payne, owner of Plane Fun, which builds airplanes from kits, offers mechanical support and aviation training.
Payne said he met Brolin at a show in Florida about three years ago, when he asked Payne to build his plane. Brolin received training while in town, flying over Brasstown.
In 2006, Payne built a plane for himself. That’s when his business, Plane Fun, took off.
“I wanted a safe airplane for the mountains and that inspired what type of plane I build, which are bush planes,” he said.
Payne said the bush planes have a short takeoff and landing, which make them ideal for the rough fields and terrain of the mountains. In early aviation, most aircraft were light, rugged machines, able to land on short, rough airstrips or in any farmer’s pastures, according to aviataircraft.com.
“It takes about 1,000 hours to build a plane from a kit,” he said. “The kits I do are manufactured in South Carolina.”
Payne said the majority of his job is helping other pilots build their own planes.
“They can build their plane here and I teach them how to fly it and transition training,” he said. “When I sell someone a kit, they can build it at their home, and I will help with technical support and get them through it.”
Chris Peet of Bridgton, Maine, is a customer of Payne’s. He said Plane Fun is the best in the world for helping pilots with their aircraft.
“A lot of people are buying kits, they spend three to five years scratching their heads and researching problems,” Peet said. “Some people like that process, but I wanted to spend that time flying my plane – and three months after I came [to Plane Fun], I am flying.”
Payne has had a lifelong passion for aviation, soloing in a one-seater when he was 10 years old. He said he stopped counting his flying hours a long time ago, when he reached 5,000 hours.
Payne said his brother, Vic, was the inspiration to his passion for flying and told him what to do.
“Brasstown is just pretty, we’ve got it all,” he said about flying around his neighborhood which he does regularly. “We have fields, woods and one thing Brolin commented on was how everyone keeps their yards so nice. That’s saying a lot since he’s from California on the ritzy side. Every yard there is kept neat and clean.”
Payne said he attends many expos and fly-ins with the largest being the Sun-N-Fun expo in Florida. He attends as a vendor and shows his planes.
He said he has also been a part of many competitions which are like racing to see which planes have the fastest takeoffs and best landings. Payne has set records in competitions Valdez, Alaska, for the last three years.