The amazing young folks and their flying machines...

Amateur (Ham) Radio folks have a get together called Field Day.  It's to show people ham radio, to see if equipment works, socialize (a lot), and generally enjoy the hobby with other people.

We went to a friend's field day, and were told there was a fly-in next door.  Huh. Cool!  So we had a radio set to the fly in frequency, and heard various ones ask info about wind, clearance, etc.  Husband had wandered down to the area, and when he came back, mentioned that I might like to go see it. 

Sure!

So, we let the people we were with know we would be back, and wandered over to the fly in.  Various of the amateurs had been going over, and this was, in fact, encouraged by the other group.  As we walked up, there was a big strip of mashed grass where the planes had been landing.  A sign said Aircraft Crossing on the path we were walking on.  A gent in an orange vest said hi, and mentioned that we should wait to cross as there was a plane coming in.  Sure enough, a bit of a roar, and then it faded, as the plane eased up to land.  Zipped down the runway, then rolled over to the 'parking area'. 

We continued across when the plane passed, and walked up to the main gathering.  This was more or less one big party.  They had about 20 or so planes when we walked around, with more coming in bit by bit.  Also some very nicely restored 20's and 30's vintage trucks, that were the parking area "border".  We watched as one of the planes came in, then shut off, and about 4 or five folks grabbed it and rolled it to a parking 'stall'.  I gather that it was mostly because of congestion, trying to park a plane in that small area could have lead to some problems, so they just moved them bodily.

I walked around and looked at all the different kinds.  Some were older, one or two were even bi-plane-y looking, but I don't know if they were older planes or restored or what, because they were highly painted and even glittery, in one case.  One was painted up to look like a plane from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, complete with little Kiwi bird on each wing.  Which is funny, if you consider it's a flightless bird...

Lots of planes were, I suspect, hand built, and were very specific, small batch type planes.  More than a few had experimental written on them.  However, I laughed, as several had it on the front near the pilot, written out as "EXPERI    MENTAL".  I keep wondering if that was because of space, or personal opinion...

I walked over to where they were having the actual picnic, which was being held in a very, VERY nice horse barn.  I said hello to the two horses, one ignored me, the other checked if I had any treats, then ignored me.  Can't win 'em all! 

I walked back out, in time to see another plane coming in.  Husband told me the plane was "crabbing", which, from what I gather, is when the wind is coming across the plane, so it has to compensate, and fly in an almost crooked angle to get lined up.  It did fine, and I realized, that was one strange looking plane.  The propeller was on the top, pointed backwards!  Mentioned this to Husband, and he said he thought it might be a remodeled float plane.  It had wheels, not floats, (lot easier for those land type landings), but the set up with the propeller would make it less likely that water from waves or such would get in the engine. 

Shows where my mind was though...  I figured someone from Google had one of those cameras on top of the plane!   I know Husband was quite enthused, and checked out several of the planes.  He had worked towards getting his pilot's license before we met.  I gather life intervened, and he never did finish up.  But he still has an interest in planes, as a tool, so he was checking them all out.

I saw them as pretty (mostly) items, sort of like art objects.  I am scared to fly, and don't know if I could handle a few of the open cockpit, take off and see if it hangs together type jobs, but I know that the people were friendly, couldn't have been nicer, and the event and place was amazing. 

Guess I will have to see about sneaking over next year, as they were saying it's an annual event, too!  (And the Field Day event was a success, too, but very laid back this year, where we went...)