Interest in a Chicago Area Warbird and Classics Event?
10-16-2013, 12:59 PM
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Interest in a Chicago Area Warbird and Classics Event?
Me and a handful of fellow members with Fox Valley Aero Club are exploring the possibility of hosting a warbirds and classics event in 2014. The following are some particulars.
- We're targeting the dates of June 19, 20 and 21 (Thursday-Saturday).
- We plan to work with the Warbirds and Classics Alliance to have this added to their calendar of events (plus cross promotion opportunity).
- We would have a pilot fee that would be in line with similar events.
- We plan to do a Friday night pilot dinner.
- We may do awards.
- We plan to do various pilot prizes.
- We plan to do advertising/promotion to target both pilots and spectators.
- We hope to generate some event sponsorship.
- We would probably launch an event website for information/registration.
- We would have event-themed apparel (shirts, maybe sweatshirts and hats).
Possible Entry Criteria:
- We may have the event open to all size aircraft, not just giant scale.
- The event would be open to propeller aircraft, jets and possibly helicopters.
- Fommies would likely be limited to designated flying times.
- Warbird aircraft would have to be sport-scale outline minimum. No sport planes with warbird markings.
- Classics would be defined as aircraft where the full scale counterpart made its first flight during or prior to 1975.
As far as flying site and area accommodations:
- The field is located in St. Charles, IL. Approximately 45 miles west of down town Chicago.
- There is an abundance of lodging and restaurants within minutes of the field.
- There is a Hobby Town USA 5 minutes from the field (handy for hardware/materials for quick repairs, fuel, etc...).
- The flying site is free from obstructions and has a 800 ft by 50 ft paved runway.
- The flying site has a 600 ft by 50 ft grass strip that is closely mown by the club.
- The site has electricity in our pavilion. We also have 9 AC/DC battery charging stations.
- Camping/RV parking is available (no hook-ups).
- We plan to have a storage tent with overnight security.
- Plenty of room for pop-up tents for pitting.
At this point, the planning is very preliminary. Therefore, the above is not set in stone. We are looking to gauge interest before taking this proposal back to the club members for approval. The organizing team believes that if the interest exists, the club will support the event and it will be "all systems go." Please provide your feedback if interest in attending. I also welcome any ideas/suggestions you may have that would enhance what we're already planning.
The club has hosted events similar to this in the past (jets, aerobatics, giants), so, we're confident that it can be first-class and run smooth.
We expect to know if this is a go by this time next month. You can learn more about the club/field at www.foxvalleyaero.com
- We're targeting the dates of June 19, 20 and 21 (Thursday-Saturday).
- We plan to work with the Warbirds and Classics Alliance to have this added to their calendar of events (plus cross promotion opportunity).
- We would have a pilot fee that would be in line with similar events.
- We plan to do a Friday night pilot dinner.
- We may do awards.
- We plan to do various pilot prizes.
- We plan to do advertising/promotion to target both pilots and spectators.
- We hope to generate some event sponsorship.
- We would probably launch an event website for information/registration.
- We would have event-themed apparel (shirts, maybe sweatshirts and hats).
Possible Entry Criteria:
- We may have the event open to all size aircraft, not just giant scale.
- The event would be open to propeller aircraft, jets and possibly helicopters.
- Fommies would likely be limited to designated flying times.
- Warbird aircraft would have to be sport-scale outline minimum. No sport planes with warbird markings.
- Classics would be defined as aircraft where the full scale counterpart made its first flight during or prior to 1975.
As far as flying site and area accommodations:
- The field is located in St. Charles, IL. Approximately 45 miles west of down town Chicago.
- There is an abundance of lodging and restaurants within minutes of the field.
- There is a Hobby Town USA 5 minutes from the field (handy for hardware/materials for quick repairs, fuel, etc...).
- The flying site is free from obstructions and has a 800 ft by 50 ft paved runway.
- The flying site has a 600 ft by 50 ft grass strip that is closely mown by the club.
- The site has electricity in our pavilion. We also have 9 AC/DC battery charging stations.
- Camping/RV parking is available (no hook-ups).
- We plan to have a storage tent with overnight security.
- Plenty of room for pop-up tents for pitting.
At this point, the planning is very preliminary. Therefore, the above is not set in stone. We are looking to gauge interest before taking this proposal back to the club members for approval. The organizing team believes that if the interest exists, the club will support the event and it will be "all systems go." Please provide your feedback if interest in attending. I also welcome any ideas/suggestions you may have that would enhance what we're already planning.
The club has hosted events similar to this in the past (jets, aerobatics, giants), so, we're confident that it can be first-class and run smooth.
We expect to know if this is a go by this time next month. You can learn more about the club/field at www.foxvalleyaero.com
10-17-2013, 05:24 AM
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Hi Fly,
this is something that the area use to have and needs again IMHO... We are planning one as well in July with the Rockford club, dates are still up in the air... Are your dates firm? The reason I ask, I am with the Freeport Club as well and we will be having our Big 3 day event around the same time, not warbird but an open event.. Let me know on your dates so we can work together to make sure we have no conflicts..
this is something that the area use to have and needs again IMHO... We are planning one as well in July with the Rockford club, dates are still up in the air... Are your dates firm? The reason I ask, I am with the Freeport Club as well and we will be having our Big 3 day event around the same time, not warbird but an open event.. Let me know on your dates so we can work together to make sure we have no conflicts..
10-19-2013, 07:55 AM
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Mustangman:
It's not 100% until the club buys off. But that date represents the best fit for our club schedule, so it's unlikely that we'd select another date.
It's not 100% until the club buys off. But that date represents the best fit for our club schedule, so it's unlikely that we'd select another date.
10-25-2013, 01:34 PM
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Fly, I attended the Elkhart warbird day this past September and was great fun,just what northern Indiana needs.I would be glad to attend.It's a good time of the year to have one and I'm sure many from northwest Indiana would be there to shake out the winter blues.
Tom
Tom
10-26-2013, 05:00 AM
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Cool. I heard the Elkhart event was great. I wanted to attend but it was the same weekend as my wedding anniversary. A few of our club members attended and had a great time. I'll attend next year as it's a week later than it was this year. We're getting getting closer to finalizing things..
10-31-2013, 05:47 AM
#7
Personally, I favor WarBird ONLY events. I'm not a fan of seeing a yellow Piper Cub flying when a 4x Saito powered B-17 is (seen it before at a 'Warbirds and Classics' event in Michigan).
I DO like the multi day events tho, especially when I have to travel some distance (over 150 miles in my case) to get there.
As for 'foamies': it might be easier/ less confusing to say 'Park Flyers', as the AMA has a defing catergory for them now (I think less than 2.6 lbs?). Otherwise, something like a Wing Mfg. warbird might be disqualified. "Foamies' imply anything made primarily made of foam, and there are some pretty big warbirds out there that are made primarily of foam (Isn't Hodge's B-29 made from a lot of foam?)
I DO like the multi day events tho, especially when I have to travel some distance (over 150 miles in my case) to get there.
As for 'foamies': it might be easier/ less confusing to say 'Park Flyers', as the AMA has a defing catergory for them now (I think less than 2.6 lbs?). Otherwise, something like a Wing Mfg. warbird might be disqualified. "Foamies' imply anything made primarily made of foam, and there are some pretty big warbirds out there that are made primarily of foam (Isn't Hodge's B-29 made from a lot of foam?)
10-31-2013, 07:48 AM
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Personally, I favor WarBird ONLY events. I'm not a fan of seeing a yellow Piper Cub flying when a 4x Saito powered B-17 is (seen it before at a 'Warbirds and Classics' event in Michigan).
I DO like the multi day events tho, especially when I have to travel some distance (over 150 miles in my case) to get there.
As for 'foamies': it might be easier/ less confusing to say 'Park Flyers', as the AMA has a defing catergory for them now (I think less than 2.6 lbs?). Otherwise, something like a Wing Mfg. warbird might be disqualified. "Foamies' imply anything made primarily made of foam, and there are some pretty big warbirds out there that are made primarily of foam (Isn't Hodge's B-29 made from a lot of foam?)
I DO like the multi day events tho, especially when I have to travel some distance (over 150 miles in my case) to get there.
As for 'foamies': it might be easier/ less confusing to say 'Park Flyers', as the AMA has a defing catergory for them now (I think less than 2.6 lbs?). Otherwise, something like a Wing Mfg. warbird might be disqualified. "Foamies' imply anything made primarily made of foam, and there are some pretty big warbirds out there that are made primarily of foam (Isn't Hodge's B-29 made from a lot of foam?)
CorsairJock:
The feedback is appreciated. I understand the concern about having aircraft of difference performance levels in the air at the same time. The plan is to have airplanes fly in "like groups" so as to keep the traffic in the pattern as consistent as possible. Your comment on fommies is valid. The idea was to limit park flyers for the same previously stated concerns (too great a speed differential with other planes). This may not be an issue as the group is leaning toward limiting the event to giant scale aircraft only.
If we end-up going forward with this, I hope you can attend. I've view a number of your ARF modification threads and your work is impressive.
We should know where we stand on this in a couple of weeks.
11-01-2013, 04:36 AM
#9
CorsairJock:
The feedback is appreciated. I understand the concern about having aircraft of difference performance levels in the air at the same time. The plan is to have airplanes fly in "like groups" so as to keep the traffic in the pattern as consistent as possible. Your comment on fommies is valid. The idea was to limit park flyers for the same previously stated concerns (too great a speed differential with other planes). This may not be an issue as the group is leaning toward limiting the event to giant scale aircraft only.
If we end-up going forward with this, I hope you can attend. I've view a number of your ARF modification threads and your work is impressive.
We should know where we stand on this in a couple of weeks.
The feedback is appreciated. I understand the concern about having aircraft of difference performance levels in the air at the same time. The plan is to have airplanes fly in "like groups" so as to keep the traffic in the pattern as consistent as possible. Your comment on fommies is valid. The idea was to limit park flyers for the same previously stated concerns (too great a speed differential with other planes). This may not be an issue as the group is leaning toward limiting the event to giant scale aircraft only.
If we end-up going forward with this, I hope you can attend. I've view a number of your ARF modification threads and your work is impressive.
We should know where we stand on this in a couple of weeks.
As for the smaller aircraft: I understand the concerns there. Not only is there a huge difference in performance (between park flyers and larger aircraft), the pilots tend to be less experienced/ newbies. Before I get dumped on for that statement, I do not mean ALL park flyey pilots are less experienced/ newbies, I just mean that many of them are. I have park flyers too. I have also attended warbird events where the park flyers overwhelmed the event, to the point that some events now ban them outright.
As for making it giant scale: most of my warbirds are '60 size'/ 1/8 ~ 1/7 scale, which do not qualify as giant scale. I currently have kit built Top Flight Corsair, Hangar 9 1/8 scale Corsair, Top Flite P-47 ARF, Top Flite P-51D ARF, and am working on Top Flite P-40 ARF. All are highly modified, most have 3 gear retracts, ALL have authentic finishes. I would LOVE to camp out for a few days in Illinois (I lived in Chicago area when growing up/ and am a die hard White Sox fan). We have 30ft 'toy hauler', so I can bring my Harley with, and a generator for power. Only thing we would need would be water.
11-01-2013, 05:53 PM
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Hi Jim[corsair jock]good to see your still around.Missed seeing you at Midwest sundowners warbird day again this year.You mad at us?
I did go to Elkhart this past September and it was great.I was dissapointed that there were many unmilitary birds there but then it was also for classics.Sooo.
Tom
I did go to Elkhart this past September and it was great.I was dissapointed that there were many unmilitary birds there but then it was also for classics.Sooo.
Tom
11-02-2013, 05:39 AM
#11
Hi Jim[corsair jock]good to see your still around.Missed seeing you at Midwest sundowners warbird day again this year.You mad at us?
I did go to Elkhart this past September and it was great.I was dissapointed that there were many unmilitary birds there but then it was also for classics.Sooo.
Tom
I did go to Elkhart this past September and it was great.I was dissapointed that there were many unmilitary birds there but then it was also for classics.Sooo.
Tom
No, not mad at anyone, it's been a tough year for me, especially first 6 months. My mother passed away late last year, and I was the 'lucky' one who became representative of the estate. With 7 brothers and sisters, it wasn't an easy job, but it's over with now. I am hoping to be back at Wheeler in 2014.
11-03-2013, 01:17 PM
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Sorry for your loss Jim.I was exec for my Dad and Mom,being the youngest it was NO fun.
Glad to hear you'll be back.We now have a fabric runway for elec's and a great new pavilion.Tom
Glad to hear you'll be back.We now have a fabric runway for elec's and a great new pavilion.Tom
11-27-2013, 04:40 PM
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We discussed the event with our board at the November meeting. It's a go! We have settled on June 26-28. Details of the event to come soon. A new thread will be started in the appropriate location.
