August 21, 2010 - Golden Age Air Museum Airshow

The Golden Age Air Museum up at Grimes Airfield in Bethal, Pennsylvania, was having one of their two annual airshows today.   The weather forecast looked excellent so I decided to fly Bruce's Cub north and check it out.   The weather was actually pretty crummy.  The winds were reasonable, the air was calm and the clouds were way high, but the visibility wasn't any great shakes and the sun was mostly blocked by a high, gloomy overcast. 

Still, I enjoyed the airshow quite a bit.  I've been wanting to go to Grimes for quite some time to check on the progress of their DR-1 Fokker Triplane.  The Golden Age Air Museum has really put together an nifty collection which is growing every year -- and they fly them. 

This is an airshow, not a fly-in, so I had to call on Friday to get prior permission to land.  But it was no problem.  A J-3 Cub?  Sure, fly on in! 

They had a pretty good turn out.  Here, people are waiting for the airshow to start.

 
My friend, Matt, flew with me in the Cub.  He did a good job flying the Cub, but I think he prefers the RV. 
 
Behind Matt is a Sopwith Pup that the Museum is building from plans.
 
The Museum recently restored this Curtiss JN4D Jenny which had not flown since the 1920s.  They did a beautiful job.  It was so neat to see it fly. 
 
Only one Winstead Special was built back in 1926 and this is it!
 
Two of the airfield's three hangars are shown in this picture. 
 
The magnificent Jenny in flight. 
 

Although you can't see them very well in this picture, these four planes are an amazing lineup and represent the first generation of the airplanes the man on the street could own and fly.  They are from left to right:  Piper J-3 Cub, 1936 Aeronca C-3, 1932 Pietenpal Air Camper and 1932 Taylor E-2 Cub.    All four airplanes flew simultaneously! 

The Taylor E-2 Cub -- with only a 37 horsepower engine -- was the forerunner of the famous Cub and SuperCub line.   The Taylor Aircraft Company went on to become the Piper Aircraft Corporation. 

The Aeronca C-3 -- 40 horsepower -- was the forerunner for the famous Champ, Citabria and Decathelon line. 

The Pietenpal can arguably represent the earliest homebuilt design built in large numbers and the forerunner of that was to come including the RVs. 

 

 
My old Citabria Trunk Monkey friend, Tom B., is closely associated with the Museum and does an aerobatic routine in his Citabria.  Here he is coming out of a loop. 
 
This Bunker Jungmeister also did a nice aerobatic routine. 
 
Great Lakes
 
This immaculate 1930 Waco RNF was recently restored and won the 2009 AirVenture Antigue Grand Champ - Gold Lindy and the 2010 Sun 'N' Fun Best Silver Age Antique. 
 
The Golden Age Air Museum fleet. 
 
The museum has been building this Fokker DR-1 Triplane from Ron Sands plans.  They have made a lot of progress in the last year.   The fuselage and wings are all done and are close to being ready for covering. 
 
The wings consist of a wood box spar and the wooden ribs.   
 
The Triplane will be powered by that Le Rhone rotary engine in the middle of the picture.  The Le Rhone was a French engine.  The German's copied it but their version wasn't as good.  They would use French Le Rhone on their airplanes whenever they could get their hands on one. 
 
I can't wait to see this airplane fly!
 
Heading home.  There were a lot of boats parked in the Susquehanna River having a party no doubt. 
 
Looking west along the Susquehanna.  The air was just murky today. 
 
 
A flight that would have taken 30 minutes in the RV took an hour and a half!  But the view is better out of the Cub. 
 
This was a huge auto junkyard. 
 
Some mansions north of Baltimore
 
Approaching the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) with Towson on the other side. 
 
 
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