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Friends,
With only about 2 months to go, the preparations for the 2009
Western Front Dawn Patrol are well underway. Continued field
improvements include the completion of the new flight line fence
that was started last year, a new sign for the front entrance,
and repositioning of the roadside signs for better visibility.
Adam Shelburg did a masterful job of replacing not only the
windsock, but also the whole bearings assembly that now allows
it to turn with even the slightest breath of wind. (Well done,
Adam!)
Other projects are ongoing. This weekend, Brian Peterson
supervised a work party that tackled the long-overdue rebuilding
of the North wall of the clubhouse, and the renovation will
probably be done by the time you are reading this. (Kudos to
Brian, Larry and the rest of their team!)
For more than two years, we have been doing our best to get the
word out about the Western Front Dawn Patrol to the R/C
community via Internet, mailings, posters, and good old
word-of-mouth. We run a pretty darned good event, with food
vendors on site and camping spaces available. We've offered
raffles, door prizes, and "Dawn Patrol" cups to participants.
And for those who wish to celebrate their participation in a
more "visible" fashion, we've offered reasonably priced event
T-shirts and hats. We've even had a sound system both years,
playing recordings of both period music and vintage aircraft to
set the mood.
We have put a large amount of effort into renovating and
maintaining the flying site, because we know we are truly lucky
to have a place like Cobras Field for this event. Not only is it
large enough to easily accommodate the larger models like
1/3-scales, but it's also actually an airfield, like the
old-time aerodromes. In fact, it's actually wider than some R/C
fields are long. For models of tail-dragger aircraft, with their
tendency to "wind vane" during ground handling, this is perfect.
It really doesn't matter which way the breeze is blowing,
because you always have room to takeoff or land directly into
it. And since there are (almost) no trees, there is little
chance of becoming a "tree-top flyer".
What we need at this point more than anything (except good
weather *pray, pray*) is simply participants. The first year
(2007) had a good spectator turnout, but schedule conflicts (Joe
Nall and Mint Julip) prevented many "Scale" flyers from
attending an unknown first-year event. Plus, we had the killer
winds (I've never seen a windsock stretch before! - and the
Arkansas Dawn Patrol guys flew!) This prompted a change to
September for the following year's event.
In 2008 we had fantastic weather, more actual pilots
participating, more models entered, and planes in the air almost
constantly.
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We even made the local paper - twice!
Unfortunately, high gas prices and uncertainty about
unemployment and the economy kept many out-of-state folks away.
Since our last Western Front Dawn
Patrol in September 2008, we have seen a steadily growing corps
of local R/Cers who have taken up the challenge of flying R/C
models of planes from the first 30 years of powered flight. The
monthly "dusk patrols" at Cobras Field are regularly attended by
a small but dedicated group, and each month more Sopwiths,
Fokkers, and SE5as rise from the grass of Cobras Field to recall
a different time in aviation history. Since the original goal of
the WFDP was to foster local interest in early aviation, and WW1
R/C in particular, perhaps the Western Front Dawn Patrol event
has served its' useful purpose?
So the real question we face as the 2009 event approaches is:
Should we continue to hold the Western Front Dawn Patrol after
2009?
Perhaps we have become redundant? After all, we now have the
Hoosier Dawn Patrol, Ohio Dawn Patrol, Southern Dawn Patrol,
Northwest Dawn Patrol, Dawn Patrol Rendezvous (biennial),
Warbirds Over Arkansas, and a new one next year called The Blue
Max. (And let's not forget the granddaddy of them all, the Old
Rhinebeck Jamboree.) There is no longer any shortage of good WW1
aviation-related R/C events, even if most of them are "back
East".
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this year may represent
the turning point for the Western Front Dawn Patrol. Events live
or die based on participation, and ours is no exception. There
comes a point where the organizers of any event have to ask
themselves why they are busting their kiesters to put on a great
event that few people come to. Please don't take this wrong; we
have enjoyed holding the WFDP for the past two years and are
looking forward to the next one in September. But while we would
like to continue doing our Dawn Patrol, the deciding factor
really comes down to whether or not people attend.
This year, gas prices look like they are actually going down for
a change ($2.07/gal today and dropping like a SPAD XIII in a
power dive), so we can only hope that it encourages some of our
old friends from far away, as well as a few newcomers, to make
the road trip. I truly hope so, because the future of the
Western Front Dawn Patrol is in their hands.
Very best regards,
Dean Dingman, Event Director
Western Front Dawn Patrol 2009 |
