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, I brought my 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 to dad, Jim S from Schertz working with
the Blastards and Fred H were also in attendance.
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
rear 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, I fired up my 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, I 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. Dad and I wandered off to look at the planes
and the rains began again. We 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 dad
and I 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 we could make the break to my truck. We got
the 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.