September 21-23, 2007 - WWI Rendezvous

 

We arrived in Dayton in the early afternoon and headed over to the Air Force Museum.  The bi-annual World War I Rendezvous takes place on the museum grounds.  From the Dawn Patrol web page, I had gathered that this was THE big WWI even -- their Oshkosh as it were. 

Here, a Fokker DR-1 triplane (full-scale replica) flies near the museum hangars. 

Frankly, I was disappointed with the WWI Rendezvous.  There weren't many full-scale planes:  less than 15.  The flightline was quite a distance away.  The planes were kept behind a barrier so spectators couldn't walk among them and look closely like you can at Oshkosh or Sun 'N Fun.  There was no way to tell if someone was a builder so I didn't get a chance to talk any. 

 
The same Triplane close-up.  I'd love to have one of these.  My next project? 
 
You can buy Ron Sands plans to build one of these. 
 
This is a Sopwith Triplane, flown by the Royal Naval Air Service before the German triplane and actually prompted it.
 
This airplane has a rotary engine -- which is what most of the WWI planes used.  It's the real deal.  In a rotary engine, the engine actually spins around the fixed crankcase.  It would throw castor oil all over the airplane and pilot. 
 
A Fokker E.III Eindecker.    This was the first geniune fighter. 
 
 
Fokker DR-VIII
 
Another Eindecker.
 
 
The radio-controlled fliers and builders were here in force.  Many of their planes were incredibly detailed.  Real works of art.
 
I'm wondering how he painted the intricate scheme on this one.
 \
A DR-1 Triplane not yet painted.  Incredibly, the builder stiched the fabric to the ribs, just like the real thing.  The fabric has the same light pink look of Poly-Fiber. 
 
Look at those Spandaus guns -- incredible.
 
Check out that rigging on this model!
 

Some of the RC planes were fairly large.

There were vendor tents along the rear.  Most were selling books, posters and WWI stuff.
 
The RC  and full-scale planes would alternate flying periods.  I wish that the flight line wasn't so far away from the spectator area.  We could hardly see them. 
 
Another RC DR-1 Triplane work in progress. 
 
 
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