September 28-30, 2013 - Red Star Form Clinic/Easton Airport Day

The Red Star Pilot's Association was having their annual formation clinic at Easton Airport this weekend, in conjunction with the Easton Airport Day on Saturday.

I took Friday off from work, got up early, and was soon winging my way over the Chesapeake Bay around 8AM.  The overcast was supposed to burn off and we did end up with outstanding weather for the entire weekend.

Jolly and Mugsy put together some nice videos on the clinic:     Jolly              Mugsy
   
The sun starting to break through.  I passed Easton on the left and continued southeast to Cambridge where I met "Chef" for breakfast.
   
After breakfast, Chef and I played around a little bit then came into Easton for landing.   We ended up using Runway 4 the entire weekend.
   
There are a number of things going on at Easton Airport Day -- lots of planes flying around overhead, static displays, information booths, a 5K run on the runway -- but a crowd favorite is the
Rubber Chicken drop.   The planes from the formation clinic try to drop a rubber chicken out of the plane onto the target -- an airport truck with flashing light.   It's easy for the Red Star planes.
Just slide the canopy back and throw the rubber chicken out the window.  No can do in an RV.  Last year we just did low passes with no chicken.  But this year Lawbreaker spent entirely too much
time thinking about it and came up with a Rubber Chicken dropping device, pictured below underneath his right wing.
   
This got Mugsy interested and he came up with an -- according to him -- improved version pictured here.
   
Mugsy did extensive "KFC Launcher" testing at an undisclosed location near Easton.
   
 
   
Riggo built a device similar, but not exactly the same, to Mugsy's and also did some testing.
   

So, of course, I had to have a KFC Launcher.

First, my daughter Lucy dressed up the chicken.
   
Not being an innovator, but believing very strongly in plagiarism, I copied Mugsy's design exactly.  I barely got it done in time for the clinic and was not able to test it beforehand.  Here is my RV with "KFC Lauching Device"
mounted under the left wing.
   

A closer look.  The device uses a car door-lock mechanism that is activated electronically from the cockpit.  I had a little control box with Master Arm switch, Master Arm light, and Launch button.

I powered the system using the cigarette lighter receptical under the panel.
   
We had five RVs at the clinic on Friday.  To shake the formation flying rust off, we did a three-ship and two-ship practice flight.  I flew with Riggo and Lawbreaker.
 
After that, we all flew over to Miller's farm and grass strip for some rubber chicken drop testing.  I worked out some kinks with my system.
   

Back at Easton, I flew a third flight where I was the lead in a four-ship.  Lawbreaker was getting his FAST card wingman recommendation ride and flew as #2 and #4.  It was a busy flight but we got it done prior to dinner time.

The RVs look small next to that big T-6, don't they?
   
Some of the Red Star airplanes.  A Yak-52.
   
Another Yak-52.
   
An ex-Navy T-28.  I heard these really suck some gas.
   
"Soprano's"   CJ.
   
T-34.
   
Another CJ painted sort of like a Focke-Wulf 190.
   
 
Mozam's Yak TD or taildragger.
   
"Bear" pushes his CJ out of the hangar after some maintenance.
   

This TBM Avenger flew in for the weekend.  This was the U.S. Navy's torpedo bomber of World War II.   On Sunday I got to sit in cockpit.  Amazing.  The plane is just huge.  A family owns it.  There are three seats in

the belly aft of the bomb bay so five people can ride in this airplane comfortably.
   
Nose art this elegant deserves a closer look.
   
Tim and his bright orange Rocket arrived Saturday morning.
   
Jerry, Tim and I went for a practice hop Saturday morning.  I flew as #3 and got some good work in.
   

Then it was time for the All-Up flight and rubber chicken drop contest.  There were 22 airplanes in the All-Up including seven RVs.  I led one four-ship of RVs and Chef led a four-ship of three RVs and a CJ.

We had a thorough brief, then headed to the airplanes.  Here I'm behind a T-6 during the pre-flight run-up.   Because of the dissimilar airplanes, all 22 airplanes did not get in tight like at an RV form clinic,

but each four ship section had about 500 feet separation.
   
The conga line taxiis on to the runway.  Easton is a towered airport but the controllers were very friendly and obviously liked working all the airplanes and situations.
   

For obvious reasons I wasn't able to take any pictures in flight.  The flight went reasonably well and most importantly, my rubber chicken released when I punched the button, although I did not win the accuracy contest.

Here a P-51 Mustang looks on enviously as I taxi by.
   
My happy four-ship -- all rubber chicken droppers.
   
Tim had to leave, but we still were able to line up six RVs for a photo shoot.  From left to right:  Lawbreaker, Riggo, Mugsy, Claw, Jolly and Chef.
   
 Left to right:  Lawbreaker, Riggo, Mugsy, Claw, Jolly and Chef.
   
Saturday evening everyone went on a sunset cruise on the good ship Patriot out of St. Michaels.
   
Five of the T-34s treated us to a flyover.
   
Nice sunset.
   
Sunset over the St. Michaels entrance.
   

A few hours earlier, we had flown a five ship with some of the wives as passengers.  We climbed high over a broken cumulous layer.  The view was stunning.   We did relaxing shallow figure eights in the bright blue sky, over the white clouds and green ground.  It doesn't get much better than that. 

Back at the airport we did a couple of low passes over the airport.

A photographer on the ground took this great picture.
   
And this one.
   

The following morning I flew a three-ship -- making seven form flights for the long weekend -- and then headed for home.  Here is the view looking at Highway 50 to the west with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

in the distance.
   
   
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