Fall Flying Festival 2017

Fast pass for the crowd from the winglet cam

With this post I will finally have caught up on documenting our flying adventures over the summer. We displayed the plane and flew it at a lot of airshows. One of my favorites is the Fall Flying Festival at my home base, Chester County Airport in Coatesville, PA. On October 7 we had several thousand people show up for it. There was food, music, airplanes, rides and demo flights by yours truly. The weather started out very sketchy with heavy fog, but cleared just in time for the show.

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Some shots of the unpromising weather as we set up.

View down the ramp as we pull the plane into place at 8:45.

We can barely see the terminal a hundred yards away

Garret on our chances of flying

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Our friends Steve and  Susan Cabiroy just finished the restricted test flight period on their newly completed Velocity XL. They took their first trip in the plane to fly up from Virginia and park next to us at our air show.

Cabiroys parked at their first air show in their Velocity

I teased them for the dusty primer finish

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The gates opened at 10:00 and in no time at all there were people everywhere. The weather cleared up nicely for us. 

Garret by the plane

Nancy and Garret

Folks coming into the show

Nancy and Garret with view of the show

Little canardian with winglets

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As always, kids loved the plane. I let at least 100 kids sit in it during the course of the show. 

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At 11:00, I was cleared to takeoff and do passes for the crowd. Since the airport was closed and I was the only one in the air, I was allowed to do "dog bones", meaning I would do a pass in one direction, turn around and come back the other way. This was going to be a lot of fun.

Ready to go

Engine started and heading out.

Taxiing to the departure end

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Here is a video of the first takeoff with a wing waggle for the crowd.

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Here are some still shots of our pass down the runway taken by Garret.

Turning downwind after takeoff

Midfield downwind leg

Lined up for our descent and pass down the runway

Passing by the show on our pass

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Nancy took this video of our first pass.

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Here are some nice still shots of our pass.

Steep turn in for our pass

View from the crowd line

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The Gopro mounted on top of our left winglet got some terrific shots of the pass. 

Turning base over the quarry

Lined up and zooming in for our pass

Here we come

Midfield view

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Here is our pass coming the other way. You will see that I am still rounding our turn when I head back toward the show line, so it looks like the plane is coming right at the camera.

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Here is my first try at a knife edge pass. The idea is to show the top of the plane while flying on edge down the runway.

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After our passes, we came in to land. The announcer said "...and now it's time to rate the landing!" Luckily, we made a nice landing in front of the crowd.

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Here we are pulling back up to the flight line.

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Here are a few shots as we pull back in. 

Nice still shot of our landing

Nancy waiting in our spot as we pull up.

Garret and I push the plane back to the display area.

With my two friends who also did passes in their planes.

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Steve and Susan had a great time showing the plane, answering questions and just hanging out with the plane. This is one of the things you dream about during the years alone in the garage covered with dust and epoxy. I'm so glad that they finally get to enjoy this part. 

Susan explaining the plane. Hand gestures are mandatory.

Standard air show owners spot - folding chair by pilot's door.

Does Steve look satisfied or what?

Steve shows folks his plane

Cabiroy One pulled out and ready to depart. Thanks for joining us.

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Garret helps a little kid get a shot with the Velocity

My little neighbor Makenna gives the Velocity sign with me

The Civil Air Patrol kids love the Velocity.

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By 4:00 we were exhausted, but had a great day. We pushed the plane through the departing crowds back to the hangar. It is a lot of fun sharing our love for aviation and for our Velocity at air shows.

As I write this, I am finally caught up - for now. We are flying down to Maryland for crab cake sandwiches for lunch with another couple, so ...more to come.

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