The weather gods were kind and Sunday dawned as befitted its name. With all ducks – or red 'Vettes – in a row, the day was sure to progress smoothly.
Never mind those boats from the '70s and '80s- this is American iron. Dick Tracy, your ride awaits! (1941 Cadillac convertible)
lol art. Again.
The museum's Waco UBF-2 and A75N/1 Stearman (the latter recovered from her engine woes) kept up a busy schedule of rides, while hearkening back to the old days of grass-field operations. The museum's vintage planes seldom use the runway.
A new acquisition – a DeHavilland DH.2 Tiger Moth – returns from her sortie.
The SPAD XIIIC.1 replica returns from a flyover with the F.E.8.
Reese Dill's AT-6F, SN 44-81687-A
Finally, the Corsair gets to start her engine and mean it!
Dan McCue gets ready to whet the crowd's appetite for big, noisy, airborne things.
...but he has to wait for this Cessna to land first. Not entirely inappropriate, as the floatplane has an important place in the state's aviation heritage – because there ain't no runways in the County.
A too-brief preview, before the noontime Horn Blow and the start of the airshow proper at 1 PM.
Backing the AT-6F out of the way. This is an active flightline, now, and Dill's plane will not be flying today.
One o'clock rolls around, Knox County Regional cedes the airspace to the museum, and the airshow begins. First on the program is Jim Parker's Salto Glider routine, but it will take about fifteen minutes for the glider to reach starting altitude. In the meantime, Rob Holland plays the role of the impatient aerobatic pilot and flies a few minutes' show before Mr. Parker starts.
oh maybe i goofed on this one eh guys?
Holland closed his short show with a knife-edge pass before landing and performing his most ludicrous stunt: donuts at the head of the taxiway, in a cloud of display smoke. Shame I was changing film and missed that one.
Jim Parker finally starts his routine, and let me say- no matter how many times I've seen it, that glider and Debussy make a beautiful pair.
After the glider flight, Tom Rudder's Harvard Mk. 4 (SN 20284) took off, and would pair up with the Corsair.
The pair flew several orbits around the airfield, before splitting up for some solo passes
When the Harvard landed, the Corsair made one final pass, this time at the 250-knot FAA-imposed limit. Between the time my eye registered that the Corsair had entered the viewfinder and my finger hit the shutter, she was half out of the frame. Here she banks up and away to bleed off airspeed and set herself up to land.
Beauty shots. It turns out that the last two can be panorama'd, but I have yet to try it.
Gassing up the Corsair prior to departure. Mr. McCue put on a good show and I hope he returns next season.
N5046G is the tow plane for the Parkers, and is a Bellanca 8KCAB – a 'Super Decathalon' of the type Steve Fossett is presently missing in. The aircraft is an aerobatic trainer, which the Parkers used during this show to put on an educational routine – the pilot (Jim, I believe, not his son) talked us through the maneuvers as he was flying them.
One last 'Vette for the road.
The Decathalon returned to earth and taxied back with its tailwheel in the air, just because it could.
At this point I had run out of film and run out of time; I had to get to work so I missed Dan Marcotte's and Rob Holland's performances, as well as the open flightline. Nevertheless, it was a very successful two days and I got everything I had any reason to expect, except hot dogs at the Squeaky Wheel. Must remember to bring cash next time.
The museum's web site is http://www.ohtm.org.
