Jets
over the Heartland 2005
We return to Tim Riddelman's jet meet in
Winamac Indiana, named Jets over the Heartland. Once again, we
had a great time at this year's show. The flying site has to be
one of the best R/C model fields, I think I've ever seen....big
paved runway, grass run-offs that are perfectly mated to the
pavement, covered pavilion, taxi ways, heck, even blast shields
and a 2 story control tower.
At the Saturday evening pilots' dinner we learn that this year,
balloonist will be attempting to pilot into the field for prize
money. We also learn that the 9 balloons will be able to take
some of the jet pilots as passengers, and that if we are
interested to head down to the East end of the field after dinner.
Jerry and I head down there after dinner and see if we can get
lucky and get a ride. With only 18 spots, and 65 pilots, I
thought our chances were slim, but, we lucked out, and soon found
ourselves in a vehicle heading to the other side of town. We lend
a bit of a hand getting things setup and then we are off. The
next 30+ minutes were a hoot. From watching deer bound through a
corn field to watching the other balloons all attempt to converge
back at the airfield. I think we came in third, as we missed the
big "X" back at the airfield by about 100 yards to the
right. Even so, I was impressed to get that close, considering we
started out probably 7-8 miles away.
Of course, Saturday night wraps up with the traditional fireworks
show, with us at a front row seat.
Chalk up another great weekend of jet flying.
