The 2019 Bowman Festival of airplanes. And a bunch of other stuff these days to get more people in, but I’m really only interested in the airplanes.
There was a classic Bell 47 flying all day.
The Bell 47 was featured in the TV show Whirlybirds, which, along with Bullwinkle, was my favorite TV show when I was little.
There were lots of what I call Real Airplanes that look like airplanes are supposed to look .
Including this C-47 (aka DC-3). The pilot was sitting inside and I was able to discuss with him some of the handling issues that I have been having with the DC-3 in Flight Simulator. You can learn a lot from the man who flies one.
You could walk through this old bomber from nose to tail. The bomb bay was a little tight for me. And fortunately they had a ladder (above) so you did not have to enter Gregory Peck-style.
Here’s the instrument cluster from a homemade plane.
Tachometer, oil pressure, altimeter, compass, air speed, and inclinometer.
Attitude indicator? Just look at the horizon. If you can’t see the horizon, you shouldn’t be up in this plane in the first place.
Vertical Speed Indicator? Just look at how fast the ground is going away (or coming up). If you can’t see the ground, well.
ADF, VOR, COM? Radios? You don’t need no stinkin’ radio. Actually, I did speak with the owner and he said there is one hidden out of sight so that he can use controlled airspace when necessary. Like when flying to the airshow!
And note the padded dashboard for those less-than-perfect landings.
Another beautifully restored old plane, this one came down from Chicago. The owner said he’d be taking it back early today, as there was a rainy cold front moving in.
The Experimental Aircraft Association were there with some of their very dangerous-looking homebuilt airplanes. One tiny one was powered by this cute three cylinder radial:
There were several other craft flying around (and rattling the windows in our house), including a B-25, an incredibly loud TBM Avenger, and a P-51.