chuck2shaw
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The pre-dawn silence was shattered by the roar of the propane burner, as the first hot-air balloon was readied for flight. The skies were overcast, variable around 2,600â, (field elevation 790â), the air was flat calm, and the Front Royal, VA, Airstravaganza was underway. Unfortunately, camera problems resulted in several missed shots.
Clearing the trees, and drifting off across Front Royal and the Shenandoah valley..
As I preflighted my Cub, the second balloon was inflated.
I was amazed to realize that this was a one-person balloon!
The pilot had quite a time getting strapped in, because all his buddies walked off after the initial inflation.
Bad hair day!
Lift-off!
Rising clear of the trees, he was a happy solo balloonist!
I then entertained the sparse early morning crowd for an hour, staying in the pattern doing landings, along with a couple glider launches, until things started to get busier. One guy said I made 12 circuits and 15 landings! He was about right!
Cub with 1914 Model T speedster parked in front of it. The owner said he knew it was original, because he built it himself. Ford never made any such car, but it had many real 1914 parts.
The little Cub in the back row got a lot of attention- young and old just gravitated to it. When I started helping little kids get in the cockpit, there was a constant stream of them. All smiles, from 2 year olds to 12 or 15. One little girl, about 8, seemed to know something about airplanes, and looked all over the cockpit, and finally asked where the starter was. Apparently she had flown enough to know there should be a starter button or something. She fully understood when I said you had to start it by turning the prop by hand. Unfortunately, I took no pictures of the 15 or 20 children who were excited about getting to sit in a real airplane and work the controls.
Three WWII pilots come up during the morning, and each very quietly told their stories of learning in Cubs, and what they flew afterwards. One had been a Navy pilot, and flew PBYâs and later B-24âs. His wife stood by patiently as he reminisced for a long time, and clearly â818 took him back to his early days of training in Texas, and the anti-submarine missions he flew during the war. One of them flew so many different aircraft, I couldnât keep track. Towards the end of his Air Force career he was about to get checked out in P-51âs for close ground support, but with the early success of helicopters his training was cancelled.
A Blackhawk helicopter landed while we were talking â and he reluctantly left the Cub to go look at the state of the art machine that had spoiled his P-51 fun!
The Flying Circus, from Bealeton, VA put on an airshow, and these kids were very worried about the wing walker. âWhat if he falls off?â
This is coming out of the bottom of a loop!
Only two balloons launched in the morning, and several war-birds and a Bonanza club cancelled because of the weather forecast. It was a long day, but the kids and the WWII pilots, plus the calm early morning flight, made it all worth while.
Chuck Shaw
