Winds at 15-25 and wintry air met a dozen or so pilots at the Octoberfest sponsored by Hunsader Farm last Saturday and Sunday.
Even with the cool autumn weather, the parking lots were full by noon and there were plenty of spectators to be amused by the flying models as well as some in-flight pumpkins. Many pilots answered questions from kids and grown-ups alike.
One man came up to my cub and reminisced about his late-father and the exploits hunting coyotes in Montana. He flew a full-scale J-3. “My father flew one of those back in the 50’s and I remember he landed just like you did most of the time…bouncing,” he stated. He added he was a better shot than pilot.
Lots of biplanes dotted the sky, including Dave’s SE5a and Jon’s Curtis Jenny. Don had his new Fokker D VII on display and he said it is close to a maiden flight. The heavy crosswind in the afternoon made landings and taxiing the SE5a’s narrow gear a challenge. Another challenge was the crab grass. Not only did I catch a toe from time to time, but it also destroyed several tail wheels. It was so strong it ripped Joe’s Cub rear gear right out of it. Cubs need tail wheels, as we soon discovered, the hard way. It also ripped apart my Big Stik servo linkage.
Jim Jr., Bill and Chris all took everyone’s breath away with their aerobatic proficiency. The kids got into it, chasing alongside the planes on take-offs and trying to out run ‘em…good luck! Roger N. had one of the only trainers and WWII planes, managing some splendid touch-n-goes in heavy crosswind conditions. Nick amazed everyone flying a Corsair foamy in 20+ MPH winds. Flew great!
Food, and more food, and did I mention food, greeted the pilots at noon, making us all want to take a nice long sun nap afterwards. There were a ton of diversions from cloggers to clunkers and hayrides to heifers, but one activity really caught our eye, literally. That was pumpkin cannon near the field. On the hour, a pumpkin was fired from a 50-foot cannon with a huge propane tank mounted on one end. Its flight path was our approach corridor to the field.
During one of the firings, I was in the wrong place at the right time. As I banked my Stik to the left, a warning siren blasted through the airwaves and a pumpkin came whizzing behind my plane at the exact same level! Dick saw it too!!
Thus came the new name for the fly-in, “Dodging Pumpkins”. All had a great time.
Images and captions by Roger Lockwood.
Spectators were welcome to look and but not touch. We all answered the "How much", "What fer", and "How big" questions all day. It was fun to get to talk to folks about our hobby, and we may have even gained a few newbie pilots.
President Jon Hay does a slow fly-by with his Maxford Jenny under an unusual lenticular sky. Saturday was an awesome day of flying with the strong, steady winds and big crowds of spectators.
Jim and Roger fine tune before another awesome flight, Jim Hess Jr. takes care of a broken rudder servo luckily caught before taking to the air. Jim provided hours of skillful aerobatic maneuvers to awe struck the crowd, SRQ member Don Jenson static displays his Fokker D-VII WW1 biplane with Treasurer Dick Bobb. Don said he just is waiting on some covering and he’ll be ready to maiden the plane before long.
Joe Fast found the crab grass to be a little annoying after it destroyed his Cub tail wheel and caused him to take out a post, luckily with little damage, Dave and his very nice SE5a and a look through Jon's Jenny provides a frame for the pit rest area.