April 21, 2012 - Essex Skypark Pancake Breakfast &
Fly-In |
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Today the Essex Skypark Association was holding
its first-ever Pancake Breakfast fly-in. Well, at least since I've
been going to the Skypark. I thought I would miss it because of the Formation Clinic, but since
weather precluded that, I was not able to make the Pancake
Breakfast.
It was held in the big maintenance hangar which now has a new
roof. Last Saturday we had a working party and spent half-a-day
cleaning 40 years worth of aviation junk out of the hangar. We
needed a Bobcat to drag the heavy stuff out. A year ago this
hangar was filled with hangar queens that will never fly again and filthy
junk. Not it is spacious and clean.
There were a couple of grills going, cooking pancakes and
sausage. Although I am biased, I must say they were pretty tasty
pancakes, much superior to most airport pancake breakfast fare I have
experienced.
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The hangar does not have a door
yet. The association is waiting until the Skypark situation is
resolved before spending big bucks on hangar doors. |
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| Rich, one of the
cooks, talking to a happy customer. |
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Action shot of the cook. |
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The pancake breakfast ran from 8 to
12. At first there weren't too many airplanes but then they started
showing up in the pattern. The weather was pretty good: warm,
sunny and light winds. |
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| This RV-8 looks
small sandwiched between two Citabrias. |
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| Two vintage
taildraggers: a Champ and Taylorcraft. |
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| A Super Decathelon
based at Essex Skypark. |
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Two guys from my EAA Chapter arrived
in this Titan Tornado (on the right). |
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| This 1947 Piper PA-12 Super
Cruiser looks big on amphibious floats. The pilot sits in the
front seat; the rear seat can hold two passengers. Only produced for
three years from 1946-1948, there were still 1688 registered in the United
States in 2009. |
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A better look at the Titan
Tornado. Pilot Dan W. is hanging on the wing. |
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| I gave Dan W. and
Mike from my EAA Chapter rides. Mark, pictured here says he liked my
web site he got a ride too! |
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| Another EAA
Chapter member George flew in with his RV-8, which he built. |
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| I havn't seen the
Skypark parking lot this crowded in a long time. |
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| One of my favorite
planes, the radial-powered Cessna 195, also flew in. |
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| I was holding at
the end of the runway when this gyro-copter flew in. Photo by Rich
R. |
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| The Gyro
Captain. |
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| A World War II
veteran and Essex resident went for an airplane ride with Max. The
Essex-MiddleRiver Patch did a nice story on it: Link Photo by Rich R. |
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| Tom K. showing his
Maule off to County
Councilwoman Cathy Bevins. Photo by Rich R. |
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Yours truly talking to Max and his friend who was interested
in the RV. Photo by Rich R. |
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| Tom, Councilwoman
Bevins and Brian posing
by a Citabria. It's nice to see the local politicians interested in the
Skypark. Photo by Rich R. |
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| Carlos taking an
airplane enthusiast for a
ride in the SkyCam. Photo by Rich R. |
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