Tuesday, October 28, 2014

I love the smell of Avgas in the morning....


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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