A couple of years ago I was at an event and having a conversation
with Terry Farmer, owner of
Wylie Warbirds, and he was telling me that there wasn't
a warbird event "branded" for his home state
of Texas. There are many warbird events all over the country
such as Warbirds Over Delaware, Warbirds Over The Rockies,
Warbirds Over The Midwest, and so on. But he wanted to
have an event for his home state of Texas. Now knowing
Terry as I do, and how he likes to do things, and how
people from Texas are, and how they like to do things
BIG, I had no doubt in my mind that his new event would
one well worth attending. Terry wanted to have the event
in the general Dallas/Fort Worth area so that it was easy
to get to for as many people as possible. Terry settled
on holding his event in Denton, Tx which is a suburb of
Dallas and just do the north of the DFW metroplex. 2012
marks the second year for this event and it has indeed
proven to be a "BIG" event already. Terry joined
forces with the North Dallas
R/C Club to help put on the event which is held at
their field located to the east of Denton. The facilities
for this club are first class and is highligted by a paved
runway measuring 500'x50', with a grass runway located
next to the paved runway. The club did an outstanding
job getting this event put on as it was well organized
and ran in a very professional manner.
Warbirds Over Texas 2012 was held on June 15-17, 2012.
Normally for a event in it's second year it wouldn't be
expected to be a very big event, but Terry and his crew
have done a great job in getting the word out about his
event and had a very well attended event. They had over
50 registered pilots and at least 120 planes at the event.
I've been to a lot of events while covering for RCU and
I will say that WOTX 2012 really impressed me. The first
day of the event had the organizers a little worried as
thunderstorms were threatening as the day started. However,
after dodging one small "thunder boomer" in
the morning the weather settled down for the rest of the
weekend. The remainder of Friday was cloudy and overcast,
but was actually a good day for flying regardless. Saturday
turned out to be a near perfect day with clear sunny skies
and light wind, and the pilots really took advantage of
this weather by keeping the skies filled with planes from
the time the flight line opened until it closed at 5 pm
that evening. While the event is held in the Dallas/Fort
Worth Metroplex area, the field is actually located in
a rural area. In fact, the field is located directly next
to a farmers field where they kept cattle and a few donkeys.
As the weather heated up the cattle decided to "hang
out" under the shade of the trees and watch the flying
going on. And I swear the donkeys were actually laughing
at some of the less than perfect landing that took place!
But things like this are just another reason why this
is turning out to be a great event for warbird lovers.
Many of the planes on display at Warbirds Over
Texas are true works of art that could easily be in museums
because of the scale details, but all of the planes were
flying models that looked as good in the air as they do
on the ground. WOTX attracts some of the best modelers
in the country like Top Gun Winner Dino DiGorgio, the
owner of
Meister Scale Planes, and Top Gun competitors Gary
Mills and Brett Bowling. But don't let that fool you to
think that only "the best" modelers fly at this
event. Warbirds Over Texas is an event that is attended
by "everybody" in the hobby ranging from those
that compete in Top Gun to your "Average Joe Modeler"
that likes to fly warbirds to parents and their kids coming
out have fun in this hobby. One of the more impressive
flights at this event was the "Moki
Gaggle Flight". This flight featured 3 giant
warbirds with Moki radial engines in them. For those that
have never heard one of these engines in flight I must
say that you have truly missed out. These engines have
just such as sweet sound when they are running and are
a joy to watch. Check out the video
below of this flight and listen for yourself.
I must admit that Terry did indeed live up to what he
told me when he said he was going to start an event. One
of his goals was to make it an event that was "must
attend" for all those that fly warbirds, and he has
indeed done that. Warbirds Over Texas is quickly turning
into one of the premier warbird events in the US. I highly
recommend that you put this event on your calendar for
next year as it's going to be one that you're going to
want to attend. Visit the event's website at
www.warbirdsovertexas.com to find out the dates for
next year's event. You won't be sorry as this event is
only going to get bigger and better.
We invite you to take some time and enjoy our coverage
below of this event. We feature over 50 videos and more
than 400 pictures to help bring this event for you to
enjoy. We have tried to capture as much of the event as
we could so that even though you couldn't be there this
year, you can still enjoy this event.
Of
course the most important part of Warbirds Over Texas
is the flying. It's what makes WOTX such a great event,
and it's what everybody wants to see. So, for those unable
to attend the event this year, here is the flying action
straight from field at WOTX 2012. We hope you enjoy the
videos of the flying action.
Ok,
let's face it. This is the reason anybody comes
to an event like this. And that's the planes. They
are what makes events like Warbirds Over Texas such
a great event. The planes that are at this event
cover the planes that have been used to fight our
wars for the last century, and more. The scale representations
here give people a chance to see warbirds in flight
that they might not get to see any other way. Warbirds
Over Texas attracted a huge collection of planes
spanning from World War I all the way to plane currently
in use by Armed Forces around the world.
We've
put our cameras to work and have tried to capture
as much as we can of the planes in the at this
event. We hope you enjoy the collection of photographs
below from Warbirds Over Texas 2012.
Of
course an event like Warbirds Over Texas is about
the Warbirds in the air over the field. But the
planes in the air are just one part of what makes
an event like this so great for those that attend.
The activities that go on behind the flightline
make these so much fun to attend. Some of the things
that go one at events like this are pits area where
pilots work on their plane, kids with their family,
people and their pets, media covering the event,
the staff putting on the event, the food, the fun,
people looking for lost parts, people having fun
and making silly faces, and so much more. We like
to use our camera lenses to help give you a feel
for what's going on that makes this event one that
you should put on your "I've got to go there
next year!" Seeing what's going on at
the event is just part of the fun of attending the
event. Here are some of the sights of Warbirds Over
Texas 2012
When
you attend an event such as Warbirds Over Texas it's more
than just the planes that are in the air that make up the
event. The people behind those planes are also a huge part
of any event. Whether it's a pilot, a spotter, a crew member,
media covering the event, flight line staff, or the organizer
of the event itself there is no way that this event would
be the huge success it is without them. They are indeed the
people that make Warbirds Over Texas so great. Here are some
of the Faces of WOTX 2012.
Anybody
that flies RC planes knows about them, and nobody wants them to
happen, but they do, and they are those "oops moments".
They happen, it's a fact of the hobby. Whether it's a bounced
landing, stuck landing gear, deadstick landing, wind getting up
under a wing on a landing, equipment failure leading to a crash,
a tip over, or even a "dumb thumb" that leads to a crash
it happens at events. We aren't trying to embarrass anybody by
posting these moments here from the event. We post them because
they are a fact of the hobby, they happen, and let's face it we
all really do want to see them. There is a saying that I hear
a lot at events, "I don't want to see you crash, but if you
are going to crash I want to see it!!" And it's true, we
all do want to see those moments, no matter how much we may say
we don't. Here are some of the "oops moments" from Warbirds
Over The Texas 2012.
First
and foremost Warbirds Over Texas is an event where warbird lovers
come together to fly and enjoy the friendship of other modelers
who love warbirds, but that doesn't mean that they don't want
to be able to do a little bit of bragging afterwards either. The
organizers of Warbirds Over Texas have setup 11 awards in order
to highlight the best planes at the event. This year Terry Farmer
really had his work cut out for him as there were just so many
great looking planes to judge. The quality of some of the planes
on display was close to what you might see in a museum, but every
award winner also had to get some airtime as well!
The
categories for this event are; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in World
War I airplanes. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in World Ward II airplanes.
Best Jet airplane. Best multi-engine airplanes. Best bomber.
Best post-WWII airplane. And finally the overall winner in Best
in Show. Listed below are the winners for each event!
An
event like Warbirds Over Texas is a huge event and simply can't
be put on by just a few people. An event like this needs the help
of many people and companies that contribute time, products, and
money to help make this event happen. The staff of Warbirds Over
Texas want to thank all the companies that helped sponsor Warbirds
Over Texas 2012 and would like to ask that you take some time
and visit those sponsor's websites.
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