Steve Percifield

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Lee,

Great job with the photos and the story. Keep it up!

Sir Percy.

WinterHawke

Thank you, Sir Percy - Helen and I had a great time at this year's Hoosier Dawn Patrol - just glad I can share some of the images with everyone!!

Before I get to the Sunday Morning Pictures, gonna comment briefly on the evening's entertainment. Thursday and Friday night were movie nights, courtesy of David Gibson, who was able to bring a projector to show DVD's of "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines" and the classic "Von Richthofen and Brown" against a white tent sidepanel. And I don't know how he arranged it, but the fabulous Sir Percy even arranged for a fireworks display on the Eastern horizon Friday night right before the movie!!! Add to that one of the neighbors (from the SAM event taking place following HDP) with an electric-powered Stik lined in NightGlo strips doing some night flying, and every evening was a party!!

Great stuff!!!

Sunday Morning

We woke up early Sunday morning to the sight of low-hanging fog all around the Hoosier Dawn Patrol aerodrome, reasonably calm air, and the threat of rains long gone. Once again, the Early Bird, aka Jeff Shutic, did the honours for First Flight:









And as the sun started to rise, occasionally the airplane would see the sun long before we did!:



Sunday morning was turning into one of those magical moments you get ever once in a great while in this hobby, when the weather is perfect, the setting is perfect, and the airplanes look fabulous in the air.

WinterHawke

Steve Carter joined Jeff in the early Fog Patrol with his 1/4 scale BUSA Sopwith Pup:



And I again shot another little video that captures just a bit of the magic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LD6ztzCnk4

It was almost surreal watching the two of them make circuits above the mist.



And it wasn't very long before a bunch more fliers came out to join them.

WinterHawke

You would've thought that when the sun finally came up that it would spoil the mood. Nope, made it even better!









I'm not sure that anything could have been improved on this morning - other than my maybe getting more coffee going!!!

Sir Percy and his trusted henchman Matt Kemp guard the hanger and the supply depot:



Yep - just a surreal morning indeed!!

WinterHawke

Just a few more Fog Patrol photos - the sun was making itself known fairly quickly!

Jim Suchy had his fabulous Hannover CL.II airborne early on Sunday:





And Randy Adam's joined the Patrol with his Hanger 9 Sopwith Camel, refinished and painted like the one used by "The Great Waldo Pepper" in the movie:



Where's Waldo??

.

.

THERE's Waldo!!



All in all, quite a spectacular morning . . . and we weren't nearly done flying yet!!

WinterHawke

I mentioned Matt Kemp earlier - he got in several good flights with his Fokker Eindekker Sunday morning, including multiple Touch and Goes:



And Jeff Shutic not only brought an effective alarm (as early as he was getting up to fly!!), but also a bunch of other flying machines besides his Eindekker:





I didn't catch the name of the lad flying this nice looking Sopwith Pup:



But he was also doing some very nice Touch and Goes as I recall

WinterHawke

Sir Percy had his 1/3 scale BUSA Nieuport 17 in action on Sunday, looking splendid in it's Polish markings:





And as noted, Jim Suchy had is scratch-built Hannover on patrol, also shooting Touch and Goes:





And it wasn't long before Steve and Jim starting doing some formation work - while standing at opposite ends of the field, I might add!!:





Great flying all morning long!!

WinterHawke

I didn't manage to get good photos of nearly all the participants at HDP '10 - Mike "Lucky Dog" Bealmear did a much better job of that than me, but I did snag one plane in the air that he didn't:



Mike had his Fokker E.IV Eindekker back in the air after some notable damage not that many weeks before the event, and it looked to be flying just fine!!





Another name I didn't get was the pilot of this Maxford Curtiss Jenny - he did fly it with abandon all weekend long:





The venerable Norm Kaz was also at Muncie with his splendid 1/3 scale BUSA Fokker D.VII:



And just one more flying shot to share - Randy Adam's had his small electric Sopwith Camel out for it's debut, and it looked to fly pretty nice as well (although he confided that it was in serious need of downthrust!!!):

WinterHawke

Too too soon it was time to start packing up - Helen and I had a good six hour run to get back home, and quite a few others had long drives to ahead of them. But it was certainly worth the travel to get to this event this year!

The flightlines are starting to clear out:





Remembrances (and lies, of course) are exchanged:





The Flags of the Great War are stowed away until the next event:



And the Hoosier Dawn Patrol is now a wonderful memory.

Sir Percy, thank you so very much for hosting such a Lovely War - Helen and I had a great time this year (and that was before I won any door prizes, even!!), and you and your team really outdid yourselves this year. I know you go through a fair amount of hassle pulling everything together to make this event happen, but we the fliers really do appreciate the hard work.

THANK YOU!!!

And just in case you're not completely burned out on my pictures just yet - all of these and more are posted up on:

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...view=slideshow

Very truly yours,

Lee McDuffee
the WinterHawke

Lucky Dog

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Great photos and narrative Lee. And thanks for getting a few of the EIV.

Mike

dcnbear

Well Guys, They let me out of the Asylum on a pass. I finally got to maiden the Bristol. Here are a few pics. Sorry I missed the event. Bear

justplanejeff

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A big tip of my wings to Sir Percy for a great event!This was my third time at HDP, it gets better every year (especially true since I totalled an Eindecker in '08 and was cross-wind burned along with everyone elsein'09).

Lee, just a sidenote for historical accuracy: Steve Carter and I both took offat the very same moment Sunday morning, so he is also due his Dawn Patrol salute.

Also, the photographs that you and Mike have been posting are first rate.
I used to bring a camera tothese events, but after seeing the pictures that have been posted the past few days, All I can say is"Thank You!"to everyone for the great images.

And finally, It has come to my attention that the Eindecker was a bit on the loud side Friday morning. For the record; it is fitted with the standard muffler that comes with the G-38.It really doesn't seemtoo loud if one is already awake.
Funny thing; the GT 80 I'm putting in my Sopwith Triplanehas two mufflers. Will that make it twice as loud or twice as quite? Find out next year, briefing will be Friday morning at 5:00a.m.

Bear, I hope all is well, congrats on the Bristol!

I can't wait until next year: ODP, Dayton DPR and HDP!

Jeff S.

Steve Percifield

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Guys,

Some facts, figures and comments.

We ended with 47 pilots. I'm guessing about 100 aeroplanes this year. The weather wasn't really a factor. It did rain on and off for a couple of hours around noonish on Saturday, but nothing that really bothered most flyers. The threat of weather made me decide to not have the Saturday noon time line and the "Review of the Threes". This was decided to allow for more open flying, just in case the really bad weather hit us, which it never did. We had 5=10 mph winds most of the time. But, again, it never really interfered with flying. It seemed there was more flying this year than in previous events, but that's good. That's what it's all about.

The banquet had 31 folks enjoy what I thought was a really good meal. Different than the normal pulled pork. Don Brown did an outstanding job.

This year saw a heavier than usual Friday attendance. I guess more of us are out of jobs.

The HDP was priveleged to be the host for the debut of a new modeling kit company and flying of there soon to be released new kit. Joe Leach and Bill Thompson unveiled Indiana Air Works to the world and debuted their new Alsado SV5 in 1/4 scale .
A very good looking aircraft that appeared to fly very well. Good luck guys on your new venture.

We did have an infestation of some flying insect all weekend. An unusual red and white bug. Seemed to be in the air all the time!!!! Sometimes growled!!! I'm told they migrated in from some where in Illinois.

We finally had some flyers bring night flyers this year. Good to see activity with the lights. It's a lot of fun.

The movies were a success. Fiday was pretty cool, and I was not asleep Saturday. Don't believe the rumors.

As many witnessed, My SE5a would not run. Reliable for 3 years, it would not even fire. I spent hours checking the ignition, batteries, wiring, switches, carboration, fuel lines and tank. The culprit was a loose head. The loss of pressure wouldn't allow the system to pump fuel. Very, AND I MEAN VERY, frustrating.

I had a 1/3 scale airplane this year and still did not get to fly in a "Review of Threes"

Yes, I'm painting a pilot.

All in all, a very good Dawn Patrol. Threatening weather, I'm sure, kept some away, and I can't blame them. I can think of about a dozen that normally attend, and were absent this year.

I want to express my thanks to all who attend and support the Hoosier Dawn Patrol. Without you all, I would standing at site 4 with Matt!!??????

YOU GUYS ARE THE HOOSIER DAWN PATROL!!!

Many Thanks

steve

Tmoth4

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Nice pictures, Lee! [sm=thumbup.gif] Some of them are quite "artsy"![sm=49_49.gif]

Jim

Tmoth4

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Congratulations, Bear. Nice work! Hey, that field looks familiar...wait a minute...I was just there on Sunday! Too bad I missed you.

[sm=cry_smile.gif]We also missed you at Hoosier DP. The weather was almost perfect for lots of flying.[sm=thumbup.gif] Winds were pretty much down the runway and it wasn't boiling hot like it's been all summer.

Jim