April 13, 2019 - Commemorative Air Force Open House - Culpeper, Virginia
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Today's plan was for Mugsy and I to fly to Culpepper, Virginia for the Commemorative Air Force Capital Wing Open House. Before meeting Mugsy at Easton, I was flying my hangar neighbor Seth to Carroll County Airport (DMW) so he could pick up his freshly anuualled Cherokee.
But today, the weather was in charge.
The weather forecast had a low overcast clearing by 10AM or so. Driving across the Key Bridge, I saw blue sky. But at the airport, there was a low overcast and it didn't lift at 10AM. Carroll County was socked in too. We hung around the airport after a trip to Dunkin Donuts. Seth got a call from the mechanic at Carroll County saying it was now clear there. It looked like it was clearing at Essex Skypark too. So we climbed into the RV-7 and took off. But the weather was still not the best. I pressed forward to the west, and was just about to make a 180 back to Essex when it did start clearing up. It was beautiful at Carroll County.
I dropped Seth off, then headed back to Essex and then on to Easton. It was clear all the way to Essex, but when I headed east to cross the Bay I encountered the low overcast again, and this time I had to turn back. I hung around the airport for another hour then decided to try again. Easton was right at VFR minimums. I made it across the bay and then flew on top of a layer with a top of 1,000 feet. Such a low layer is really unusual.
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Heading south at around 1,500 feet. The sky is clear to the west and I can see Kent Island.
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Looking down at Kent Narrows bridge through a broken layer.
I didn't think I'd be able to get into Easton but the overcast layer to the east miraculously broke up along an east-west line just to the north of Easton Airport. So I approached Easton from the south and had no trouble getting in. A few hours later than scheduled, though.
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Mugsy and I taxiied for takeoff at Easton. While we were holding short, this Marine Cobra attck helicopter took off right in front of us.
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| Oooh - Rahhh! |
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| The weather to the southwest of Easton was flyable, if not great. |
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| About to cut across the Bay towards St. Mary's. |
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How do you capture this on a weather report?
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| We arrived at our destination, Culpeper Airport (KCJR), home of the the Commemorative Air Force's Capital Wing. They have their own big hangar. |
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The FBO at Culpeper Airport (KCJR). Nice facility, with decent avgas prices.
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| After checking out the warbirds, people came over and checked out our RVs. |
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| A replica of the Japanese carrier dive bomber: the Aichi D3A or Val. |
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| The big TBM Avenger. A friend of mine, Cliff Ellis, played a huge part in the restoration of this giant. |
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Inside of the CAF hangar. There were burgers and hot dogs available on the left; a small museum on the right.
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| The CAF Chapter raises funds used to restore their warbirds by giving rides in the warbirds. |
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You may recall, back in 2015, they did a World War II victory flyover of the nation's capital. The bombers staged out of this airport: Culpeper.
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| Another look at the Avenger. |
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| Avenger's cockpit. Cliff says its an easy plane to fly. Sure! (Photo by Mugsy) |
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| The Avenger with its wings folded; very handy for service aboard aircraft carriers. |
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| T-6 Texan. Time in the T-6 is required before pilots can fly the hot warbirds like the Avenger, or the fighters. |
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A closer look at the Val.
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Some Imperial Japanese Navy aviator re-enactors.
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| This replica Val was built by converting a Vultee BT-13 Valiant. |
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Quick change by the re-enactors. Japanese carrier diver-bomber pilots were as good or better than any in the world the first year of the war in the Pacific. Most of them were killed during the Midway and the Guadalcanal air battles.
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| The Chapter's Stinson L-5 kept busy giving rides. (photo by Mugsy) |
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| The Chapter's Vultee BT-13 Valiant project which is nearing airworthy status. The BT-13 was the basic trainer flown by most American pilots during World War II. Fledgling pilots moved up to the BT-13 after learning to fly during Primary training in the Stearman or PT-19. |
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The CAF open house broke up about an hour after we arrived. Now the chapter members are just talking among themselves.
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| An RV taxiis out. |
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| Pushing the Avenger back in the barn. |
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Heading east towards home, crossing the Patuxent River.
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Passing by Tilghman Island.
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| Passing by Kent Narrows bridge. |
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Well, things didn't go exactly as planned, but it still turned out to be a great aviation day.
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