Rain, rain, rain, wind, rain, rain. Did we mention
rain? Any mention of airplanes?
Well, it happened again. Rain. (and lots of it). In
spite of the threat of heavy rains, thunderstorms, lightening and wind,
the club managed to pull off one of our best showings to date for this fun
little air show. We counted eight vehicles, a bicycle and mini-jeep
project in addition to a dozen or so members, friends and family members.
Toby C. and Ray brought Toby's freshly painted (and ready for Normandy)
MB, Herb T. brought his GPW, Scott S. brought his M38A1, Colson bicycle
and mini-jeep, Danny K. brought his M151A2 and M416 trailer, John K
brought his MB, Jim H brought his MB, Glen V brought his CJ2A and current
Prez Tim W brought his slat-grill MB as well. In addition, Scott's
dad John was there along with Jim S from Schertz working with the
Blastards and Fred H.
Glen arrived nice and early to grab our usual spot under the huge shade
tree just in case the sun decided to poke it's head out. A bit
later, the rest of the group arrived and set-up a fantastic display in a
semi-circle that was very crowd friendly for viewing. The skies
remained a bit dark but the planes began arriving a few at a time.
One of the last planes to arrive was Howard Pardue and his Wildcat which
suffered a right brake lock upon touchdown that sent him nose-over
and upside down. Fortunately, he was OK but the plane was heavily
damaged and remained on the side of the runway for the duration of the
event. (or non-event if you wish)
About 9:30, Scott fired up his traveling bbq pit and tossed on a few
racks of seasoned ribs from a feral hog shot last weekend. About
10:30, they were ready to eat and disappeared very quickly as 'breakfast
ribs' Tim so eloquently proclaimed. A bit later, Scott re-stoked the
bbq pit and Tim started cooking the sausage and hot dogs for lunch.
In hindsight, this was probably a good thing that we all ate lunch about
11:30 or so.
As the show started with the National Anthem, the winds began to pick
up and the DPS helicopter left. Rain drops began to fall and the
crowds began to scramble. After a few minutes of light rain, the
crowd was really thinning on the flight line. Toby moved his freshly
painted MB back to it's enclosed trailer for safe keeping. The rain
really didn't materialize and a few planes took off for some
demonstrations, specifically the home-builts. Scott and his dad
wandered off to look at the planes and the rains began again. They
ducked into the large hanger where a significant number of spectators had
gathered. By now, the flight line was a torrent of rain and river
flowing with lots of lightening and wind. The rest of the club had
started to load up and head out but most got caught about 90% completed or
just on the road as the skies opened up.
The pyrotechnics guys let loose with all their display explosions with
the lightening around trying to abate an accidental discharge. Some
pilots in the hanger said a tremendous squall line was headed towards the
airport and a few other planes ducked out during a small lull.
That's when Scott and his dad made a run for the jeep to load up but got
caught in a torrent of rain and waited under an open hanger for about 25
minutes until they could make the break to Scott's truck. They got
his jeep and gear loaded up and watched a few other planes leave the area
knowing full well the show would not go on.
It's a shame the rains came when they did forcing the show to be
cancelled.