Saturday the Princess & I left the WAWA at
10AM to begin our 32 mile cruise to Culpeper Airport….we have done this twice
in two weeks! The weather was so very
different from two weeks ago when we endured the gloomy, wet day at
AirFest. But today was picture perfect
with deep blue skies, puffy white clouds and a gentle breeze….and we were going
to be among airplanes! How could it get
better? Along the way we met Lou &
Arlene as we completed our cruise to the airport.
Some of you may know that my Dad was a fighter
pilot….he flew P-51 Mustangs in WWII. I
never pass up a chance to be in the company of one of those artifacts of
American ingenuity and exceptionalism….
The Princess has her red ’94 Mustang GT that I bought her for our 30th
wedding anniversary and she wanted to have a picture of it taken next to
a P-51 Mustang….to connect in some way to my Dad’s Mustang. We rarely take her Mustang anywhere but today
was going to be special because the event was going to have a P-51 present for
pictures. Unfortunately the old Warbird
wasn’t up to the task on Saturday.
Remember the old Mustangs are all over 60 years old, some more than
that. It takes a very intense and costly
maintenance program to keep the old birds in the air….and at $2.5mil per
airplane it’s not something you just wing it with (no pun intended). Not to mention, as my Dad would say, “they
never left one up there”….and with an oil leak you just don’t want to take a
chance turning the old Mustang into a glider….understood! But I was thoroughly bummed out….and unfortunately
it messed up my day altogether….I’ll get over it….but….
About 58 cars & trucks attended as well as a
gaggle of bikes….which included David’s beautiful purple Harley. My favorite ride on the ramp was the red ’47
Chevy AD pickup. The owner had just
about every period correct option installed on it….that included a cigarette
dispenser! And he was not bashful about
explaining everything about it. Wyatt
brought his DeLorean from Annapolis and Duane brought his very yellow Mustang from
Culpeper. The 1960 German Ford Taunus with the SBC was in
the field with many more friends and their rides. I like the Military encampment that was set
up….it added a certain ambiance to the event.
The food served in the Commemorative Air Force hanger was very good and
the restrooms were kept clean and stocked throughout the day. They brought the
Yak and a TBM out for pictures with cars then later a T6 was added for another
backdrop. There was also a T6 flying and
I saw a C140 launch….that is the kind of airplane I learned to fly in. It was a good turn out when you consider
there were three other shows running within 40 miles! I will always vote to attend an event that
has airplanes….oh yeah. They are going
to have more events like this next year....we will be there!
It’s getting
near the end of our season….just a few more events and we rest the truck for four
months. Our Over The River And Through
The Woods Run on November 29 then a week later our Toys For Tots run on
December 6 will finish the season….
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