June 25, 2022 - Mid-Atlantic RV Fly-in - Missing Man Formation at Clearview
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We had great flying weather this Saturday and a couple of events in which to take advantage of it.
First was the the Mid-Atlantic Gathering of RV's hosted by EAA Chapter 1384 at scenic Carroll County Airport (KDMW).
Mark B. and I flew our RVs over from Essex Skypark. I had a passenger, Nhu-An, who is building an RV-10.
Here is Mark and his AirVenture award-winning RV-8.
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Nhu-An happy to be at the RV fly-in.
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| The star of the show I think was this RV-14 with a very appealing paintjob. |
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That's the proud owner on the left showing off his plane. The workmanship was outstanding.
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| The beautiful paintjob was done by Lancaster Aero at Smoketown Airport, PA. |
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As you can see, many people were attracted to the RV-14.
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| Richard S., from Easton, taxiis in. |
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| I met the owner of this RV-7A who flew in with one of old Trunkmonkeys, Mark, still flying his Citabria. |
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Two Essex Skypark RV's on the left, two Easton RV's on the right. We all have fun flying together.
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| I liked the paint scheme on this RV-7A. |
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A little U.S. Air Force Thunderbird action on the left and a RV-10 on the right.
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| Nhu-An was very interested in the RV-10, of course. |
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| Jim T., flew his RV-8 in from Lee Airport, Virginia. |
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| An unpainted RV-7A taxiis by. |
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The rest of the Essex Skypark contingent finally showed up. Here, Chip taxiis by in Brian's RV-8. Brian is flying that blue Decathelon on the left.
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| Chuck and Joe taxi by in the RV-7A. |
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A group shot of the Essex Skypark and Easton RVs. Later we would be flying a Missing Man formation at nearby Clearview Airport.
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| This RV-4 has been in the Mid-Atlantic area a long time. It was originally built by Bill Meserole, who was a long-time DAR. |
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| Mugsy and his RV. |
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| My RV wasn't the only polished on at the fly-in. I like the yellow and black checkboard. |
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Interesting rudder art!
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Gyrocopter taxiis in. "What's the deal with all these RVs!?"
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There was a fairly good turnout. Probably in the 30s.
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| We had a good time socializing with all the other RV pilots. Large hot dogs, brautworst and cold wter was to be had. Thanks to EAA Chapter 1384 for putting on this fun fly-in! |
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The fly-in had pretty much wound down when we briefed for the Missing Man formation flight. Then we took the group picture:
Left to right: Joe, Chip, Brian, Mark, JJ, Me, Nhu-An, Chuck B.
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We had five RVs. I was lead, with Nhu-An taking the pictures. It's only a five minute flight south from Carroll County to Clearview.
Here Mark and Chip are in route formation on the right while transiting to Clearview.
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JJ and Joe on the left.
We racetracked around a watertower 2.5 miles southeast of Clearview waiting for the radio call to make our pass. JJ was #3 and would be the missing man.
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| We got the call, closed the formation up and headed in. |
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| After the missing man pass, we formed into a right echelon, broke overhead the airport, and did a Lufberry Circle with smoke on around the airport, while Brian in the Decathelon circled below and inside of us. "Helicopter" Chuck, who we were doing the Missing Man for, was famous for flying circles around Clearview airport. |
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Looking down at Clearview. You can see there were lots of people on hand to pay their respects to Helicopter Chuck.
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| ZZZ |
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Circling around Clearview airport in a Lufberry Circle.
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Clearview Airport can be challenging to land at with its sloped runway. Fortunately we had wind favoring runway 14 which meant we got to land uphill.
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| Enjoying a late lunch at Clearview. |
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| Walt -- in the black shirt -- organized the memorial. Here he is saying a few words about Helicopter Chuck and other Clearview pilots who have flown west. |
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Chuck flew all sorts of planes, including RVs, but I remember him most for flying gyrocopters.
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Walt unveiling a beautifully crafted stone bench honoring "all those who flew these Clearview skies before us".
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It was a very nice moment.
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| Chuck flew this big, dive-bomber looking plane into Essex Skypark once. |
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Chuck B. put together this great video in remembrance of Helicopter Chuck.
Departing Clearview. What a great aviation day!
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