This weekend was the second annual Staggerwing and Radial Reunion. This event is held at our home airport so it is really convenient. What is a Staggerwing, this is a Staggerwing.
These classic planes were born in the 1940s mostly. They have large cabins and cruise in style. They do burn a bit more gas. While we will run 13 Gallons per hour to get 170 knots, they run 25 to get 145. But they have lots of style. So Staggerwings are radials. What's a Radial?
That's a radial or round engine. My engine is 6 cylinders horizontally opposed. That means there are 3 cylinders on each side and they sit to the left and right in two rows of three. Radials have their cylinders arranged around a the central crankshaft.
Last year's event was a blast so we signed up for this year. It kicked off Friday evening with arrivals. It wasn't only Staggerwings though. One of my favorites was a 1942 Howard. It had begun life as a Navy transport in WW2. This is the advanced cockpit.
So Friday was arrivals, there were supposed to be 33 planes but the weather was iffy with a strong front across the country. Less came but there seemed to be at least 15 or so planes. Here are a few.
Today was supposed to be nice until late afternoon but we woke up to a front that had not listened to the forecast. The plan was a fly out to Saint Simons Island to feast on Southern Soul BBQ. I have posted about their food before. The classic planes were all safely tucked in hangars around the airport. That is where they stayed.
Lunch was scheduled for 11-3:00 and the weather was scheduled to roll in by 3:00. The classic plane pilots decided to drive the 49 miles. I looked at the front and the forecast and decided to fly. In the end we were the only plane to fly to the fly in. The guy below is another Staggerwing arriving Friday.
We were told to look for the DC-3, food would be at the Hangar behind the plane. On arrival, it was quite obvious where to taxi, the DC-3 is big and has a distinctive look. We taxied to the DC-3 and tied down. Blue skies had started turning grey so we kept an eye on the weather. Since we were first there we had the freshest and best BBQ. Usually we need to walk half a mile and stand in line. Today there were huge platters of pork, ribs and brisket.
The host had set a hangar with tables and it had a plane hanging in the center and another classic in the corner. After a few helpings of BBQ, the drivers showed up. We socialized a bit and looked the DC-3 over as that was the only other plane there. It did not count as a fly in as it is based there.
We watched the weather closely and around 12:30 figured that we better get going. We easily cruised home though you can see from the zoomed out picture on the GPS, the storms were coming. I stayed around the airport to change my oil and right around 2:30 the first showers came. This slowed me a bit as I had to close up the hangar to keep things dry and then wait to do my leak check run-up.
We met back up with everyone tonight for a banquet. The storms really showed up with full force around 5:00 but were done by 6:30. The people who drove did complain that they had some bad weather on the highway as they rode back late in the afternoon. In the end we had a great day, had a smooth safe flight both directions and I set a new personal record of being my own fly in.
These classic planes were born in the 1940s mostly. They have large cabins and cruise in style. They do burn a bit more gas. While we will run 13 Gallons per hour to get 170 knots, they run 25 to get 145. But they have lots of style. So Staggerwings are radials. What's a Radial?
That's a radial or round engine. My engine is 6 cylinders horizontally opposed. That means there are 3 cylinders on each side and they sit to the left and right in two rows of three. Radials have their cylinders arranged around a the central crankshaft.
Last year's event was a blast so we signed up for this year. It kicked off Friday evening with arrivals. It wasn't only Staggerwings though. One of my favorites was a 1942 Howard. It had begun life as a Navy transport in WW2. This is the advanced cockpit.
So Friday was arrivals, there were supposed to be 33 planes but the weather was iffy with a strong front across the country. Less came but there seemed to be at least 15 or so planes. Here are a few.
Today was supposed to be nice until late afternoon but we woke up to a front that had not listened to the forecast. The plan was a fly out to Saint Simons Island to feast on Southern Soul BBQ. I have posted about their food before. The classic planes were all safely tucked in hangars around the airport. That is where they stayed.
Lunch was scheduled for 11-3:00 and the weather was scheduled to roll in by 3:00. The classic plane pilots decided to drive the 49 miles. I looked at the front and the forecast and decided to fly. In the end we were the only plane to fly to the fly in. The guy below is another Staggerwing arriving Friday.
We were told to look for the DC-3, food would be at the Hangar behind the plane. On arrival, it was quite obvious where to taxi, the DC-3 is big and has a distinctive look. We taxied to the DC-3 and tied down. Blue skies had started turning grey so we kept an eye on the weather. Since we were first there we had the freshest and best BBQ. Usually we need to walk half a mile and stand in line. Today there were huge platters of pork, ribs and brisket.
The host had set a hangar with tables and it had a plane hanging in the center and another classic in the corner. After a few helpings of BBQ, the drivers showed up. We socialized a bit and looked the DC-3 over as that was the only other plane there. It did not count as a fly in as it is based there.
We watched the weather closely and around 12:30 figured that we better get going. We easily cruised home though you can see from the zoomed out picture on the GPS, the storms were coming. I stayed around the airport to change my oil and right around 2:30 the first showers came. This slowed me a bit as I had to close up the hangar to keep things dry and then wait to do my leak check run-up.
We met back up with everyone tonight for a banquet. The storms really showed up with full force around 5:00 but were done by 6:30. The people who drove did complain that they had some bad weather on the highway as they rode back late in the afternoon. In the end we had a great day, had a smooth safe flight both directions and I set a new personal record of being my own fly in.
No comments:
Post a Comment