WWI Weekend in Bethel PA

[Aragorn243]

Sorry for the short notice but I just found out about this. I'm going to go check it out today.

It appears to be small with hundreds to low thousands of people attending. Information on this is almost non-existent.

They have a museum there and several reproduction WWI aircraft and a few original ones in flyable condition and they fly them on these weekends. Supposedly, there are three, possibly four Fokker triplanes there this weekend, they claim there have never been this many in flyable condition together since WWI. Some Doughboy re-enactors are there also.

So, if you're anywhere near Bethel PA which is sort of between Harrisburg, Reading and Scranton, it's happening. Starts at 10:00 and the big flying show is at 2:00.

I'll post more when I get home.

Information

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[Aragorn243]

I had a great day although by the end of it I was exhausted and felt overheated but that's part of being a great day.

Compared to Reading's WWII weekend, this was TINY, very tiny. I overheard a fellow say that they had 600 people on Saturday and that was the most ever for this show. I'm wondering how they survive with these tiny numbers but this was the 21st consecutive year not counting the Covid years which don't exist anymore.

There were two food vendors, yes, TWO. Prices were high but not ridiculous, my daughter and I ate there, a sandwich, fries and a drink ran $11 for a hamburger meal to $15 for an 8-inch cheesesteak meal that was actually 12 inches.

There is not a lot of shade which is why my wife opted not to go. In her current condition that is not a good thing. Anywhere where there was shade, two trees and inside the hangers, everyone crowded in there. I didn't mind the sun that much; it did reach 88 today which was warmer than I expected but it was overcast most of the day.

There were four vendors, some WWI stuff, but not a lot, a couple of the guys were at the Reading show's flea market.

They had US army WWi re-enactors, small number, maybe a dozen, three Russians with full gear which was pretty accurate and a group of WWII US re-enactors with a couple of vehicles, a jeep, a truck and an armored car. They had a few WWI civilian re-enactors and many of the pilots wore period gear.

The planes were the big draw, there were four Fokker Triplanes there today but I did not get to see the promised three flying together. One took off at the beginning of the show, did half a dozen or so flybys and then took off for home, the weather being the reasoning. One broke down yesterday and they had it in a hanger till it gets repaired and another one was testing it's engine when it crapped out before it could get off the ground. The fourth flew as scheduled during the WWI portion of the show with a Sopwith pup and they "dogfighted" by flying in a circle until the one got an advantage by flying sharper into the circle. They also had a German Rumpler they said no one liked to fly but it flew fine and a pair of Neuports and a Jenny. They saved all these till the last part of the airshow. The majority of the air portion was three older type acrobatic style planes and a few post war types used for barnstorming. They also did a glider display which was my first and they got the glider in the air by pulling it with a car which surprised me. He flew around in a circle for a while until they signaled, he was taking too much time and came down. It was surprisingly fascinating to watch to me. They also did a gag skit where a stupid farmer manages to get into a plane and take off in it almost wrecking, etc. while the tower yelled at him. Total air time was over two and a half hours.

Takeaways, amazing how slow these things flew. I'm used to the WWII planes, and they zip along quite nicely. These were all flying roughly 70-80 mph max.

They have a museum there which is what owns many of the planes and built many of the WWI planes. Their displays are small but interesting.

The whole thing has a small town feel to it that it seems like they want to keep it that way. Parking was easy in, easy out, plenty of room to spread around and sit or just walk around.

I'll get the photos posted to my page in the next few days and post a link to them here. Too many to post here and I haven't even started looking at them or sorting them.

[Aragorn243]

Photos didn't turn out so well which is bad considering I took over 1300. Too much sun or I had the settings off.

https://www.facebook.com/StevensMHph...8581658130374/

[browningautorifle]

Nice, I can see how shade would have been a priority too, sun's about a mile away. Nice show regardless.

[Aragorn243]

My daughter covered herself with sun screen twice and still managed to get a little burned on her shoulders. I didn't put any on and came away without even being red.

I'm slowly going through my photos and getting them lightened up. This is really aggravating; this is the second time this happened. It's so sunny out I can't see the screen to make sure they are alright. I could see them, so I thought they were fine. The vast majority of them are OK, they are just far distance shots of them doing things in the air and the sky is bright enough. It's mostly the closer views of the WWI planes that I really wanted that are dark. They did a skit with a young pilot getting his wings and saying goodbye to his girlfriend and mom before getting on a truck to go overseas. All very dark but salvageable. Just very time consuming.