We are headed for Dayton, for the Dawn Patrol airshow at Wright-Patterson AFB, on 1 and 2 October 2016. The Vintage Aero Flying Museum (VAFM) is bringing its SPAD replica and some displays from the museum.
This year, the biennial airshow is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Lafayette Escadrille. Several families of the original Escadrille members are expected to be there, including VAFM friend Lt. Col Rutgers, descendant of James Norman Hall. Following in the footsteps of his father, who arranged reunions in the 1980s for surviving WWI pilots, Andy Parks will be part of a banquet honoring the families.
Look for our booth next to the museum, with our new Lafayette Escadrille t-shirts (designed for the airshow; look for them on-line after the airshow) and our other books, t-shirts, and hats. Our on-line shipping will of course be somewhat delayed for the next couple weeks, but if you come to the airshow, we can offer you the products with airshow discounts and no shipping and no delay at all!
This year the emphasis is on the people, the personalities who made WWI aviation famous. But the VAFM has been at the Dawn Patrol airshow before, demonstrating the qualities of WWI aircraft by flying three WWI replicas from Colorado to Dayton. The adventure of flying vintage airplanes across the country was recorded in the video Mission: Dawn Patrol. The video ties together the troubles of the cross-country trip with the problems experienced by the original pilots, such as flipping the airplane over, unplanned landings in fields, and the airplanes never having been designed for lengthy flight. It's been one of our family's favorite videos.
See you at the Dawn Patrol!