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Second Annual Last Ever Northwest Antique Airplane Club
Fly-in by Percy G. Wood, Region 3 Director,
The planes are starting to arrive! The excitement is building! It is time for the Second Annual Last Ever NWAAC Fly-in at Evergreen Field! This was taken Thursday evening, before the planes really started to come in. I had to change the oil in my plane, and oil flows faster when it is warm. What better way to warm it than a "trip around the patch." I caught this on the cross wind leg. Note that flying and photographing at the same time is not the best practice... These were just a few of the planes to come in, like the biplane in the lower right corner. Many more would be in before the show was over. About the name. It was supposed to be the Last Ever Fly-in last year. The family that owned Evergreen Field had found it too expensive to maintain. With taxes and other costs dictating, they reluctantly offered the field for sale. It will be a sad day when Evergreen closes. But the Ercoupers of Region 3 (and near by) wanted it to go out with a bang. They came from North, South and East (West is the ocean for the geographically challenged) to have a great time at the home of Al and Koreen Lail.
Their home is part of the North/South Airpark. This 2500-foot sod strip runs the same way the old north-south runway did, just displaced to the east. The old north-south intersects the east end of the paved runway at Evergreen. One can taxi from Evergreen to this private strip. Which I had done. Part of the Evergreen tie-down agreement states that your plane can be moved by NWAAC for their fly-in. Since I didn't want to trouble them with moving mine (there are four or five derelicts to move anyway), I bought 2129H over to Al's. Above is 29H on the left and 08H on the right. This was the setting for the District 3 Doin's. I went over on Saturday afternoon to document the "Doin's." Parked at the Lail's and took the ladder over the fence. As I wondered towards "Show Center," I spotted a very bright red Ercoupe type. The conversation was that there was confusion as to where he was supposed to be - he was looking for the rest of the `coupes. We had not organized too well this year, so we were scattered here and there. I took Dennis down to the end of the line, and parked him. He was in a good spot for what was to befall him that day, coming in from Boise, Idaho, and all.
Now, I had every intention of taking lots of pictures. That fell by the wayside due to a maintenance opportunity. Joa, from Bend, had arranged for Joel to come and balance props. Joel has the equipment (RPM measure, accelerometer and computer) to dynamic balance the whole rotating engine parts and propeller. The fees for this are usually quite significant, but would be reduced to even my budget level if three or more flyers had it done. Al and I had signed up, and Dennis said OK. So with the rate locked in, Joel and I started on 29H. "Might as well do the hardest one first," I quipped. Little did I know... That it would take the better part of two hours! But, boy, what a difference. Very worthwhile. Shot the heck out of my picture taking and name gathering. Do remember a few, though. There was Joe and Peggy from Portland, and Joa had bought his wife Christi and their two kids (are they ever a hand full). Bruce and Candy from Yelm. Dennis from Boise of course. Dave and Steve flew down from the Seattle area, and "Los Tres Amigos," Buzz, Maynard and Ted, drove up from California. Their choice was made by the forest fires that are blighting Southern Oregon. Al cooked, Koreen kept the libations flowing, and my wife Georgia came over for a `berger. We even attracted some Ercoupe wannabe's! My apologies to those whose names I missed.
So how many A&P's does it take to change a light bulb? This is a trick question. It is not the number of persons, but the quality of the paperwork that makes it legal. The balance jobs went very quickly - once 29H was out of the way. One of the truest joys of my Directorship is thanking all the nice people that make Region 3 go. Koreen and Al certainly deserve all the thanks this ol' Local Poobah can give. For having us into their own back yard, I presented them with a token of the Ercoupe Owners Club's appreciation. Thanks a lot, guys!
Well, that's it from the Great Northwest, `coupe fans. It has been a good run, the 43 years of fly-in's in Eastern Vancouver, Washington. The Northwest Antique Airplane Club has plans to continue the tradition from McMinneville, Oregon. There is parking for all the planes there. It just will not be the same, though. Signing off for now = Percy |
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