WWI Weekend 2023

[Aragorn243]

Nothing compared to last year. Only a few planes this year but there was something interesting that happened. They are building a Spad XIII fighter, and it's nearly finished so they dedicated it today. I can't really say a whole lot about it because they were/are so vague about this weekend it's ridiculous and my memory isn't that good. Part of the dedication was painting the unit emblem on it and they had members of the family of the pilot of the plane they are reproducing and the family of the German observer who was killed by this pilot and they managed to find the original unit stencil used on this squadron which was the 13th Aero Squadron. The plane was Capt. Charles Biddle I believe who captured and intact Rumpler by forcing it down. An action where the observer was killed. This was the action in which he became an ace. So, they had the descendants paint portions of the emblem which was interesting.

The weather forecast was not good although the day was very nice other than being extremely hot. They did fly their DR I triplane which was awesome, love that plane and it did not fly last year because it was down for maintenance. Last year however they had four others from other fields. I estimate there were only about 200 people there this year. Last year was likely between 500-1000. If near Bethel PA, it's going on again tomorrow, but the weather forecast is worse for tomorrow. They can't fly these planes in adverse weather, and they won't travel here either.

[Aragorn243]

---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 AM ----------

As you can see from the photos, this is a very low attended event. I'm estimating about 200 people there yesterday which is a real shame in my opinion. They don't advertise it much and what they do advertise doesn't tell you much. There was no schedule at all other than the time for the dedication of the Spad. That ran late. You can walk right up to the planes, you can stand right next to the taxiway which is 30 yards to the landing strip. Last year was much better attended because they had the 5 DR 1's there. Maybe 500-1000 last year. The weather this year was iffy and a lot didn't fly in like they usually do. I was told they average about 40 fly ins and they had maybe 8 including the US Army blue and yellow plane. The planes that are flying here are all owned by the museum so are there all the time. The DR 1 I believe is original or has an original engine at least. The Spad is a complete build with a modern engine. They have a Jenny in barnstormer paint that is original, one of six in the world still flying. The Sopwith Pup is a modern build, so is the Rumpler. The Rumpler was built for Lawrence of Arabia but not completed in time. It has period parts from then. They don't like to fly it for some reason, I don't think it is easy to fly.