Festival of Flight

 There's a small, noncommercial airport that Wally likes to go to sometimes for lunch. He eats his lunch in a nearby park and watches planes take off and land. He noticed they were having a festival yesterday and invited us to join him at the event. I hesitated because, no matter how hard I try, planes just don't interest me much. But it was free and not far away, so I went along. And I'm glad I did. It was another friendly event, where people who were enthusiastic about flying shared their interest with the crowd. And there were many more things other than airplanes to see.

The weather cooperated, and the rain we had been having for the last few days stopped except for a few sprinkles we felt here and there. However, the clouds kept the temperature down, so it was a nice day to wander around outside. I'm not sure what I expected, but I was surprised that much of the crowd was made up of families with young children, which made sense when I thought about it. What kid doesn't like an airplane?

We spent the morning there and made it home in time to get our To Do list done that afternoon. All in all, a very good day. Below are a few pictures from our time at the airport.

Ward and Wally. The rain had left the grass wet, as well as a few puddles we had to dodge around.

When we arrived, they were just beginning a remote-controlled plane event. That's one of them. I was surprised at the size and detail of the RC planes we saw. Below is a video of one of the RC planes taking off. It had an actual jet engine in it. (If you're interested, you can see the plane much better if you enlarge the video.)

Most planes don't have doors that open upwards.

This plane was built from a kit. I took the picture for my niece, who went to flight school with the Coast Guard and now flies helicopters for them.

The engines are on top of the plane. A new thing for me.

Ward was interested in this helicopter because it was like the one he was on in Somalia. The one he flew in developed a broken leg, and they narrowly escaped disaster.

An "auto-pilot" in an auto gyrocopter.

Not everything went up in the air. This couch rolled all over the grounds.

There were also vendors and local groups.
This picture is for Strayer, who works tirelessly for this cause
in Oregon. Because of her stories, I donated here.

The firetruck and police car, as were the RVs for sale, were popular with the kids.

There were plenty of food trucks, but Wally and I had a pancake breakfast, which was an EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) fundraiser.

Now it's time to get ready for an upcoming trip to the West Virginia mountains. We're leaving in a few days, and I will check in during the trip when I have time and internet.

Until next time...