By Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848
This piece originally ran in Vic’s Checkpoints column in the February 2022 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
In December, I told you about the not-so-much-fun part of the trip to the 50th National Stearman Fly-In thanks to bad weather en route to Galesburg, Illinois. This time, on the heels of Connor Madison’s feature story about the event (which also ran in December), I want to tell you the happier side of the story.
As with many other events during 2020, this fly-in was canceled last year. So, on top of the pent-up participation of pilots, we saw at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this year, this was also the 50th anniversary. More than 100 Stearmans were preregistered early on, so it had the makings of a great event. I had participated only once before, in 2019, and it was the most fun I have ever had at a fly-in. Ever. That is not something I state lightly, having been to my first AirVenture in 1981, along with hundreds of other fly-ins since. Four of us bought our first Stearman in 1998. I remember one of the partners, Cal Tax, stating right up front that he wanted the airplane for a particular week every year. It took me more than 20 years to understand why. I was anxious to see if the fun factor was just as good as it was in 2019.
We arrived in the middle of the afternoon on the first day of the event, which is always Labor Day. There were already 82 Stearmans on the field, which is about how many were there in 2019. But this was only Monday, and the weather forecast for the week was super, except for some winds on Tuesday and Wednesday. There are fly-out activities every day, usually to a local airport or a private strip. It is amazing to see so many Stearmans flying all day, every day, from sunup to sunset. I don’t think there was ever a quiet time on the field.
The energy level and camaraderie are really off the charts. First, it is definitely an older crowd, but you couldn’t tell that at all. Our group, the Scorpions, was at the field every morning at sunrise. I think only once were we the first ones to get engines started. Besides the fly-out activities, there were contests for shortest takeoff distance, bomb drop, spot landing, aerobatics, participation, and formation flying. We were the reigning formation champions, so we committed to practicing every morning, as well participating in the fly-out activities. The daily pilot’s briefing was at 9 a.m. every day, so we had to take off early to get back on time for the briefing. It was fun watching the other teams practicing, and the sound of a four-ship Stearman formation usually had everyone looking skyward. This meant that most of us had stiff necks by the end of the day, as there was a constant stream of formations in the sky.
One of the things I like about the event is that there are just a couple of vendors, composed of the usual T-shirts and souvenirs, along with a couple of Stearman parts vendors. That’s it — so no one is running off to see what the best deal is. Everyone is usually sitting around with each other during the time we are on the ground. With multigenerational families and friends attending, sometimes there are interesting stories. I listened as one pilot, who was retired United States Air Force, looked at Cal Tax and asked if he was ex-Air Force, which of course he is. The guy asked what Cal’s class number was, and then remarked that it was the same as his dad’s! The guy said he remembered being fascinated as a kid with his dad’s photo albums from the Air Force and remembered Cal’s name since it was so unusual. Cal remembered his dad, too!
The fly-outs to the various locations are lots of fun, and the hospitality is over the top at each of them. The best one is on Friday at the Wolford’s farm, which is IL01. That’s right — it was the first registered airstrip in the state of Illinois. Pretty much the whole family flies, and even though I climbed to the top of a grain silo to get a picture of the 70-plus Stearmans at the farm, the picture just doesn’t do it justice. What is also neat is how many of the locals come out to see the Stearmans and visit with the pilots. Many of them had stories about members of their family being involved in World War II, with some even remembering pictures of their grandfathers flying Stearmans.
One of the nice things about being in the flatlands is that when the wind blows, it’s not usually too bumpy. When we departed for Tri-Country airport, the winds were gusting to 30 knots. Luckily, they were right down the runway, so no super pilot skills were needed. Did I tell you that you can see nothing but cornfields or soybean fields forever? It can trick you into thinking you have a nice place to land if you have an engine failure. But the truth is that ears of corn will really bust up an airplane pretty quickly, and soybean gets tangled around the landing gear so fast that a nose-over is almost guaranteed.
There weren’t any off-field landings during the week that I was aware of, but we did have some ground incidents. As with any accident, there is usually a chain, and it was the same with these incidents. Three of them were prop strikes with taxiway lights and/or signs, two of which I witnessed. It is a sickening sound to hear. Most GA airports do not have ramps large enough to park 80-plus aircraft all at once, so new parking spots are created, which usually means off the beaten path. It also means the aircraft are parked close together, which does not allow the usual S-turning that is absolutely needed when taxiing a Stearman so that you can see in front of you. When everyone is arriving, it is a madhouse, but there are people directing you to your spot. Unfortunately, everyone leaves at a different time and nobody is marshaling anyone out. Anyone who flies in the snow country usually notices how tall the taxiway lights are, so that they can still be seen by pilots and the snowplows during the snow season. Guess how hard it is to see a blue taxiway light in the grass that is on a different route on your taxi out than when you taxied in, especially when you are paying really close attention to your wingtips so they don’t hit another parked Stearman? I was watching the first one do just that when the light was hit. I felt horrible, as I was watching the wingtips, too.
It’s easy to get distracted at large events, especially where traffic flows are changed. Parking Stearmans close together limits the ability to S-turn while taxiing. Sometimes the outcomes are not so good. Luckily, there is probably no better place for bad things to happen than at the Stearman fly-in, as there is lots of help to get things fixed.
The second one I witnessed happened due to another row of aircraft being added to accommodate more parking. The cones in the grass had been moved, and the pilot was focused on them as he ran into the runway sign. It really drove home the message to me that extra attention was needed when the aircraft was moving, as nothing could be taken for granted. I was so focused on not hitting something on the ground that when our four-ship taxied out the next morning, the stage was set for another goof-up. By me! I was number three, with lead and number four being in the same row. Number two had arrived later, so he was parked a few rows back. Lead pulled out, and then I followed lead to the end of the row, whereupon I had always stopped and let two join in the proper sequence. Guess what? I was so focused on lead not hitting something that I forgot about number two and just continued my taxi. Boy, did I feel stupid when we lined up for our runup and lead asked why we were mixed up. I guess target fixation can have other meanings.
The formation contest is the last contest of the week, taking place on Saturday afternoon. Teams are graded on the formation takeoff, a finger-four pass, a diamond pass, a freestyle of their choosing, and then an echelon with a break. There were six teams competing this year. Since the teams practiced their freestyle act away from the field during the week, there were sure to be some surprises. Since we were the last act, we made one more pass and performed a missing-man formation, as it was September 11. Since I was number three, I was the missing man, which meant I could also head for home when I pulled out (after heading west first). That was wonderful for me. Even though I was having a blast, I was anxious to get home.
I found out later that night while in the hotel room that we had won the formation contest. I think our freestyle bomb burst was the clincher. We won by only two points with almost a 20-point spread between second and third place. That felt good! I also won the Participation Award, which is an award for the most fuel burned during the week. I have no idea how I beat out the 450-hp guys!
It was a great event. There’s also one activity that helps to max out the fun factor that I’ve never been able to do anywhere else. Remember those large cornfields I mentioned? A fun evening flight is flying really low over them, chasing your own shadow or playing tail chase with other Stearmans. The air is smooth as silk, and you can actually get a sense of speed in a Stearman. How cool is that?!
Coming back to land and seeing 150-plus other Stearmans on the field sure keeps the fun factor alive.
Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848 and chair of EAA’s Homebuilt Aircraft Council, is a commercial pilot, A&P/IA, DAR, and EAA flight advisor and technical counselor. He has built 11 aircraft and has logged more than 9,500 hours in 72 different types. Vic also founded Base Leg Aviation and volunteers as a Young Eagles pilot and an Angel Flight pilot.