The
organizers for Warbirds Over Tulsa have invited me to cover their
event for the last few years, but conficts on my schedule have
always prevented me from attending their event until this year.
With nothing to conflict I looked forward to being able to cover
the event this year, and since the event is practically in my
back yard it was pretty much a no-brainer to head up to Tulsa
for the event. This year Warbirds Over Tulsa was held on September
7-9 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event is put on by the Tulsa
Glue Dobbers RC Club, a club that has been in existence for
many years now. The field is on the eastern side of the city of
Tulsa and has the feel of a field that is located in a rural area,
however it is a short drive from the heart of Tulsa and it's suburb
of Broken Arrow, Ok. Located on City property the Glue Dobbers
have constructed a very nice field that makes for a great place
to fly. The runway is paved asphalt and measures 500' x 50' and
includes a paved startup area as well well covered pit area. The
entire flying is was well maintained and easy to tell that the
club puts a lot of work into maintaining their flying area, which
is usually a good sign of a very good club that works well together.
The number pilots attending this year's event was down a little
bit from previous years, but this can be attributed to conflicting
events being scheduled for the same weekend as well as a weather
forecast that was predicting bad thunderstorms for the weekend.
However, the lower number of pilots did not mean that the quality
of flying was any lower, on hand at the event was a large variety
of warplanes which put on a great show for the 3 days of the event.
The weather was very nice for the event with highs in the 90's
and no rain during the event. The predicted bad thunderstorms
did roll through the area, but it held off until the flying had
wrapped up for Friday and raining a good portion of the evening
that night. But by Saturday morning the skies were again clear
and ready for planes to take to the air. While the number of pilots
was lower than in previous years, that doesn't mean it wasn't
a fun event. I had a fantastic time at the event and really enjoyed
spending time with pilots and the club members working the event.
The Glue Dobbers really know how to make you feel welcome and
that goes a long way to make for a great event. I really enjoyed
being here this year to cover the event.
Ok, I will admit that I love Warbirds. So just about any "heavy
metal" warplane is something that I like to watch fly! But there
are always some warbirds that stand out more than others. That
can be for a variety of reasons ranging from size to complexity
of the model to rarity of the plane, and Warbirds Over Tulsa is
not exception. There were several planes that really stood out
at the event.
First
of these are Rod Johnsons JU-87 Stuka
diver bomber. Rods plane was a very nice representation of
this plane that terrorized the allies during World War Two.
Rod had equipped his plane with dive bomb sirens from IC4
products that represent what the real plane sounded like on
a dive bomb run. Rod has well over 250 flights on this plane
and it's easy to tell that he if very comfortable on sticks
when flying this plane.
Next
up is Tom Solinski's World War One German
Eindeker. This plane is build from a Balsa USA 90 size
Eindecker kit. The plane is powered with a .90 size 4-stroke
engine and just flat out looks good in the air. Tom flies
the plane smoothly and does a really good job making this
plane look good in the air.
Noah
Butler build a TBF Avenger done up
in British markings. The plane is built from plans from Charlie
Kellogg and working bomb bay doors. The plane is powered by
a Moki 150 radial engine and sounds just so sweet in the air.
Nothing sounds like a Moki, that's for sure!
And
last but definitely not least is Jim Ellis'
PT-19 built from a Balsa USA kit. Jim picked up the kit
recently and spent a lot of time over the last few months
getting ready for it to fly. While he has very little time
on the plane so far, you couldn't' tell from watching him
fly it. He did a great job on the sticks and make this plane
look really good in the air. Jim also had a Moki radial on
the plane and it sounds just as good as it looks!
While
these planes are some of the nicest planes at the event, that
doesn't mean that everything else wasn't nice. Everything at the
event from the largest scale hand built planes down to the small
"foamy" warbirds looked good in the air. And it was easy to tell
that the pilots flying them had a great time as well. When the
pilots are enjoying themselves it makes for a great event as their
fun shows up in the way they fly. I had such a great time at this
event and it will definitely be on my calendar for next year as
a "must attend" event. And who knows, I might just have to toss
a couple of my warbirds in truck and fly at the event as well!
I hope that you enjoy RCU's coverage of Warbirds Over Tulsa 2012.
The
best part of an event like this is of course the flying,
and nothing captures that best than video. I've put together
this collection of videos to hopefully give you a good
taste of the flavor of Warbirds Over Tulsa. The planes
that were on hand for this event were true fantastic models,
and the pilots at the event really did a great job in
flying at the event. I hope you enjoy these videos from
Warbirds Over Tulsa 2012.
Ok,
let's admit it. We come to a Warbird event to watch
warbirds fly. That's just plain and simple. And
Warbirds Over Tulsa had a huge variety of Warbirds
to show us throughout the 3 days of the event. Everything
from small spotter planes like the L-4, to trainers
like the PT-17 Stearman, all the way up to
the huge heavy metal fighters like the P-47 Thunderbolt
an and the P-51 Mustang. And don't forget about
the early age of warbird aviation with planes like
the Eindeker and the Waco YMF as well. There was
no lack of variety in the birds that were here at
the event flying this weekend. We are pleased to
be able to bring you some snapshots of the planes
at the event this year. We hope you enjoy the Planes
of Warbirds Over Tulsa 2012.
Or
course everybody comes to an event to watch the planes flying.
But the planes in the are are just a small part of what makes
a warbird event so much fun to attend. There is so much activity
that goes on behind the flight lines that makes people enjoy
an event like this. There is always a flurry of activity in
the pits as pilots ready their airplanes to fly, as well as
repairing any damage that may occur during the event. The spectators
are another crucial part of an event and they are what will
make an event a success. Any good event like Warbirds Over Tulsa
will have a good viewing area setup for the spectators and will
ensure that they keep the crowds entertained throughout the
event. At this year's event that wasn't a problem as there were
planes in the air constantly throughout the 3 days of the event.
The folks in the stand were definitely treated to a great show
as they watched warbirds from all eras take to the skies over
the event. Please enjoy some of the sights of Warbirds Over
Tulsa 2012.
Of
course everybody comes to an event like this to watch
the planes, that's what it's all about after all. But
we feel that equally important are the people behind those
planes. These are the guys that are out their flying their
planes, the workers putting on the event, the people spotting
for the pilots that keep everything safe in the air, and
even the guys in the pits that help keep the planes in
the air. Watching these people out there during the event
is almost as fun as watching the planes flying overhead.
The people are the heart and soul of an event like this
and we like to bring them to you here.
Nobody
likes to admit that it happens to them, but let's face it that
it does happen to all of us at one time or another. Those little
moments where everything doesn't go just right. Parts fall off
of planes while flying, landing gear don't come down, controls
quit working, the plane noses over while landing, and landing
gear folds up while taxing, and the ultimate bad thing to happen
is a crash. These "Oops Moments" do happen to everybody and even
though most people won't admit the truth of the matter is that
we all like to see them when they do happen. There is an old saying
that I've heard for a long time that goes, "I don't want to see
you crash, but if you are going to crash I definitely want to
see it!" While it's not a nice thing to think about, it does happen
and we all want to watch it when it does.
Now with all that in mind, Warbirds Over Tulsa was extremely lucky
this year in that there were no major crashes of planes at the
event. While there weren't any major crashes, there were plenty
of mishaps at the event and I was able to capture a lot of them
with my cameras. We're not trying to embarrass anybody here by
putting their picture up in our article, but rather we're just
trying to show that everybody is human and that we all make mistakes.
So with that being said, I hope everybody enjoys the "Oops Moments"
from Warbirds Over Tulsa 2012.
Thanks to all the hard-working Tulsa Glue Dobbers members for putting on a great event! Excellent job all around. And thanks to RCKen for the superb event coverage. Even though I could only attend for one day, I had a great time and I look forward to Warbirds Over Tulsa 2013. Noah- Oklahoma City
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The
organizers for Warbirds Over Tulsa have invited me to cover their
event for the last few years, but conficts on my schedule have
always prevented me from attending their event until this year.
With nothing to conflict I looked forward to being able to cover
the event this year, and since the event is practically in my
back yard it was pretty much a no-brainer to head up to Tulsa
for the event. This year Warbirds Over Tulsa was held on September
7-9 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event is put on by the 
