Joel S. Samuelson
Rain Show
THE FIRST ANNUAL World War I Control Line and Radio Control Model Airplane Demonstration was held at Birchwood Pocono Airpark on October 25, 1975 (rain date). It was sponsored by the Pocono Modelers Club and the Keystone Breakers CB Radio Club. The cosponsorship worked out well because the Pocono Modelers deployed their major effort in putting on the air show, while the Keystone Breakers took care of the parking, refreshments, ticket sales, cleanup, etc.
Birchwood in the Poconos is a honeymoon resort that also has a public airstrip. Mr. Hoffman, the owner of the resort and a professional pilot for Pan Am, built the strip because of his love for flying. In addition, the night club at Birchwood is called the Red Baron. All of this was a natural for the air show. An aerial dogfight between the mean Red Baron and the underdog, Snoopy, was the featured event. The Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau under the head of Bob Uguccioni, mailed news releases to all of the area newspapers, as well as publishing the event in the weekly booklet that is distributed throughout the entire resort area. RCers from the Aerobatic Society of Endicott, New York, and the pylon racing group from Harrisburg agreed to help us with the show. Everything was geared for October 18, 1975, at 1:00 p.m. As luck would have it at this time of the year, we had rain. Frantic calls to the regional flight service at Wilkes-Barre at 7:00 in the morning were not reassuring—rain the entire day. All preparations had to be cancelled, our flying guests from out of town had to be called, the food had to be refrigerated or frozen, and a new advertising campaign had to be started to regear for the rain date of October 25, 1975. Advertisements ran in the local paper during the rain-date week, stating that the Red Baron had caught a cold preparing for his fight with Snoopy and that he had recovered to do battle. By Thursday of the rain-date week (rain date being October 25, 1975), everything was set, even the weather forecast was good for the weekend. But as luck would have it, the forecast changed Friday evening and we were plagued with a fine mist during the early Saturday morning hours. Again, we called the flight service station at Wilkes-Barre and the report called for a rising ceiling with no rain all in the area. Winds were light and variable and the early morning fog and drizzle should be cleared by noon.
We plowed ahead and prepared for the show. The eating area was moved inside, while rain-soaked cooks prepared the hot-dogs and hamburgers on charcoal hearths. The PA system was set up in the hangar away from the flying area and the announcer, Duane Walck, could not see and comment on all of the aerial maneuvers. The rock group, Reign, also had to set up inside the hangar to protect their electronic gear. As 1:00 p.m. neared, only the people helping in the preparation and performance of the show were present. Joel Samuelson, the president of the Pocono Modelers and Chairman of the Air Show, paced back and forth hoping for a break in the weather. Surprisingly, people started to trickle in, even in the light rain, and by 1:30 we started the show with approximately 150 to 200 spectators. The rain didn't clear until 3:00 that afternoon.
Don Hewlings opened the show, flying a Bristol Bullet over the strip dropping the official bicentennial flag. This was followed by an RC jamboree. R. C. Noll took off in his biplane pulling a banner saying, "Welcome, RC Fans." The show was underway and the weather was showing no signs of clearing. People that would have come with their children stayed home and a lot of honeymooners, I presume, decided to stay indoors due to the inclement weather. R. C. Noll continued the show flying his Jet Star, the deBolt Acrobat, and Eindecker. Ralph Jackson turned in a spectacular scale flight with his YAT-28E. He also flew a pattern with his Tiger Tail. Dick Allen sliced through the mist in his Tiger Tail, Taube and Sopwith Camel Pup, while Hank Farrell did snap rolls in his original biplane, which, by the way, should be published in Model Aviation shortly. Gary Booker flew his deHavilland 10-E. During the ribbon cutting part of the show, Don Hewlings had a clevis break in a turn and spiraled in, totaling his plane. Those brave wet kids at the show thought this was great and wanted Don to repeat the performance. The glider portion of the show was performed by Tom Long, flying a Monterey, and Doug Williams flying a Hobby Hawk. Sterling Schoonover flew a pattern with his Phoenix 6 and also test flew an Ugly Stik that was to be part of the aerial dog fight. Because of mechanical problems with the Ugly Stik, they decided not to use this ship for the dog fight. Allen Conklin flew his eight-foot Aeronca and Carl Stengel darted through the sky in his 200 "Quickie" racer. Tom Lilli flew an "original" pattern with the Sweet Stik. Many times, the planes seemed to disappear into the clouds.
Control-line performances were adequately handled by Jim Bush, flying a stunt pattern. Ken Sarer performed brilliantly in a carrier demonstration, and Cliff Hunt flew an original adaptation of his gyro-copter. As you can see, the entire show was not devoted to World War I planes. However, a respectable number of beautifully designed and detailed scale planes added the extra touch for the World War I theme, besides the aerial dogfight between the Red Baron and Snoopy. The pylon racing teams and the control-line combat teams never did show because of the inclement weather.
During the intermission, live music was provided by Reign, a real hot rock group from the Poconos. Door prizes, donated by various merchants, were given to those lucky people who were at the show. The grand prizes were two vacations for two at Birchwood. These were drawn before the main event.
The main event was announced and the theme song, "Red Baron and Snoopy," piped through the PA system. Snoopy took off and was flying gracefully in the air, yelling taunts at the mean Red Baron. The Red Baron never did get into the air until Snoopy was almost out of gas. The Baron had engine trouble. Snoopy won by default.
All in all, it was a tremendous success for our first effort. A large part of the expected crowds never came because of poor weather. Those who did come enjoyed the afternoon. Free Delta Darts and balloons were given to the children and many people walked away with valuable door prizes, as well as a greater appreciation of what airplane modeling is all about.
The clubs are looking forward to next year and a bigger and better air show. We plan to hold it earlier in the year because of the weather and, if all goes well, we will be making it a national event with guaranteed prize money. The Poconos are a wonderful place to hold such a large show. The Red Baron of Birchwood is all for it and is looking forward to his revenge flight.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
