Boy, talk about a good time! Since I missed the Woodward, OK fly-in earlier in the day I was itching to make this fly-in! The field is located only 10 miles or so from my home strip. The ceilings at my field was still 8-900 ft. I thought about waiting it out in hopes for the ceiling to lift. It was all of 12:30 and getting later. My wife needed me home in the mid-afternoon so I decided to pack it up and go home... I decided to drive there instead and make this a family event. This turned out to be a good decision!
I was surprised when we arrived. There were more planes than I thought would have showed up. The ceiling was over 1000 ft, so I could have easily flown in without much trouble had my field been more cooperative. Come to find out there were a lot of wet spots on this grass strip. Not only that, there was a "hidden" low-lying body of water about mid-field. Everyone found this spot - more like it found them! SPLASH!! This was the norm for EVERY arriving aircraft. On take-off, it was common for a crowd of people to migrate on the grass, watching with eagerness to see if the plane could make it off before splashing into the water - prolonging the take-off roll. Most planes, except for the lightest, could not make it in time.
It had become very muggy outside. High
humidity and very light winds made standing behind the prop-wash of departing aircraft a must. That is where you could find me. The grills were working full-time cooking hot dogs and hamburgers. Everyone else brought side dishes. There was enough food there that no one would go home hungry.
It
normally seems like I am the only person that brings their kids to these events. Not this one! There were kids of all ages there. This is a farming community. And I would guess that even non-flying neighbors were there with their families.... it was nice.
How can you not respect the
Stearman... you got to love it!
Me and Isaac in the background. Little Grace, drinking, in the foreground.
Homebuilt.
The
Stearman looks massive compared to this Cessna. The Cessna would look massive compared to my
Sonex...
I was surprised when we arrived. There were more planes than I thought would have showed up. The ceiling was over 1000 ft, so I could have easily flown in without much trouble had my field been more cooperative. Come to find out there were a lot of wet spots on this grass strip. Not only that, there was a "hidden" low-lying body of water about mid-field. Everyone found this spot - more like it found them! SPLASH!! This was the norm for EVERY arriving aircraft. On take-off, it was common for a crowd of people to migrate on the grass, watching with eagerness to see if the plane could make it off before splashing into the water - prolonging the take-off roll. Most planes, except for the lightest, could not make it in time.
It had become very muggy outside. High humidity and very light winds made standing behind the prop-wash of departing aircraft a must. That is where you could find me. The grills were working full-time cooking hot dogs and hamburgers. Everyone else brought side dishes. There was enough food there that no one would go home hungry. 
How can you not respect the Stearman... you got to love it!
Me and Isaac in the background. Little Grace, drinking, in the foreground.
Homebuilt.
The Stearman looks massive compared to this Cessna. The Cessna would look massive compared to my Sonex...
I will plan to attend this event in the future. For only being the 2nd annual it was impressive. Here is a link to there blog: http://ruckerfield.blogspot.com/
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