This year we also had help in the form of financial
assistance from Chrysler of Culpeper that would change the makeup of our
display a little. We also had invited
special Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs to show the evolution of the
Generations of each mark. We also had
some very special race cars and motorcycles booked. We had to arrange special unloading and
parking of the trailered vehicles that would be attending. Each member of CFH has been planning for the 2013
AirFest event for a year.
This year we also had a last minute welcome participant in
the form of Ray & Terry’s Team Fisher House race car. They had been planning on attending another
event and at the last month they were able to be at our event. Since CFH’s main charity is Fisher House
Foundation this was a very welcome addition to our display, in fact it would
become the centerpiece of the display!
It began raining here about October 7th and was
continuing as we left on a dreary Saturday the 12th. We had a couple meetings in the last month with the airport
folks, Tanya & Tony, to determine if we could still have a display if it
rained and where we could set up. Since
the weather guessers were all over the board as far as the Saturday forecast we
really didn’t know where we would be till the morning of the event…at 6AM….in
the dark….in the rain. We met with Tony
shortly after we arrived onsite and he found us an area on the ramp where we
could be safe and strategically located so most of the spectators would walk
near our display on their way to the rest of the event. Without Tony’s assistance the event would
have been a total bust for us.
As previously instructed, the 7 brave souls that shook
their fist at the rain and decided to drive their special cars to the airport
began arriving between 7:30-8:00. We set
them up next to Chrysler of Culpeper’s cars and near the Fisher House racer of
Ray & Terry. Everyone pitched in to
set up canopies, chairs, coffee & donuts then settled in to endure the
long, wet, cold day. There were 48
people that thought better about subjecting their vehicles to the deluge that
was unfolding before them and stayed home.
We had instructed everyone that their safety is the most important thing to
us and if they thought they might jeopardize themselves or their vehicle by attending the event....we were encouraging them to
please stay home….there is always 2014.
And in the end if all 55 people decided to come out and play in the rain
we didn’t have anywhere to put them….it would have been a chaotic mess. So I’m glad we had 7 cars instead of 55!
I began photographing what I could in the rain and the
others began talking to the spectators as they trickled into the event. This event it always the high point of our
year…we really like to share our hobby with the spectators and tell them about
Fisher House. So many people do not know
what Fisher House does for our Veterans and it’s our mission to try to fix
that. The point of the Team Fisher House
race car is to pique interest in the car and while talking with spectators
about the car, share about Fisher House too.
We were a little disorganized most of the day but Lou & Ray still managed
to interact with many people that had no idea what Fisher House is…that’s a
win! It is uplifting to see a parent
giving their very young kids money to put in the Fisher House donation
barrel….it’s a teaching moment for us all!
Because of the playground fight in DC that caused the
shutdown of our, OUR Government there were no FAA Inspectors available to
oversee the event’s flying. It was a
moot point because the weather ceiling was maybe 2” most of the day so nothing
flew while we were there. Some of the
vendors stayed home and other planned displays were also absent. Those that showed up tried but in the end the
incessant rain prevailed. There was about
30 aircraft to see tied down on the ramp….not the least of which was the P-51
and the Yak-11…two neat allies from WWII.
I would have liked to see them both fly.
About 11AM the airport announced that there would be no
airshow because of the weather. We kept
going till noon then decided to call it a day.
Everyone worked like a machine to take down our little encampment and
make sure everyone’s stuff got back where it belonged. We made sure we didn’t leave any trash and
just that quick it was over for us. It
was a good day to follow through on the commitment we made to the airport and
Fisher House….we hope that a few more people now know what Fisher House does
for our Veterans.
There are just a few more events we will attend this year,
one on November 30 and the last on December 14….so any additional entries to
this blog may be limited to those dates….and then we will begin our adventures for
2014 in late March. It's been a fun ride so far this year....
Be sure to check out all the pictures at; http://www.flickr.com/photos/53063560@N05/sets/72157636499356895/
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