October 21, 2006 - Citabria Fly-In
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Today, Bruce and I were heading to the Flying Cow Airpark for a little
Citabria fly-in that I had organized. I had tried two weeks ago but
got rained out. Today, however, was a perfect fall day. Sunny
and warm, with clear blue skies and light winds. Bruce and I hoped
in the Citabria and headed west. We stopped briefly at Clearview
Airpark to buy gas and oil. |
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Taking off runway 32 at Clearview.
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What a difference a week makes. There was a lot of color today as
you can see. It was a very pretty flight out. |
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Crossing the last ridge before the Flying Cow airpark.
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| Over the Flying Cow. There
are four Citabrias there already. I'm late to my own fly-in!
There's a couple of gliders pulled out, as well. |
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| Lynnette and Ellen had driven out
in the van with all the food, drink and chairs. We started out by
having a great lunch featuring bratwurst.
We had a pretty good turn out: John from Warrenton, VA, Pete from
PA, Dick and Tim from New Jersey, and Al from the Eastern Shore, MD.
Plus the Flying Cow park regulars including Jan and Mai, of course, who
graciously allowed us use of their beautiful place. |
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Lynnette slaving over the hot stove. Well, at least it's more scenic
than the kitchen. |
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Yours truly with all those great looking taildraggers in the background.
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After lunch, it was time to do a little flying. Here Bruce is towing
a K-7 glider. |
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The glider usually gets airborne before the tow-plane.
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| Bill B., a Flying Cow
regular, gave Tim a ride in the two-seat Birdfalke. I was flying
the Citabria. Tim took these great shots. I think the colors in
this shot are neat: the blue sky, green field, blue and yellow
airplanes. |
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| The Citabria is working hard to
gain altitude. I probably averaged 400 foot a minute climb rate.
When we flew through a thermal, I'd climb at 500 to 700 fpm, but when we
were in sink, I'd be making 0 to 200 fpm. |
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Getting there. |
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The Birdfalke has released and is on its own. Must be thermalling
in this picture.
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Dick preparing to take his first glider ride ever with Bill B.. |
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And survived to tell the tale! He loved it!
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| Dick and Tim heading for home. |
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