Bucker and BBQ 2012 (updated)

Details: Created: 21 May 2012

The weather up and down the East coast was nearly perfect this year. Light winds, a crystal clear sky, and temperatures in the upper 70s (20 C). Buckers and pilots came from far and wide with Larry Ernewein coming all the way from Toronto! We flew all weekend, ate wonderfully, watched our two professional airshow/Jungmeister pilots, and enjoyed a beverage or two after the sun went down.

The fly-in officially started on Friday afternoon, and by the time Brian Karli and I arrived, there were already six or seven Buckers present. Before long, a total of ten Buckers were on the field. Eight Jungmann, and two American Jungmeisters. One built by Frank Price, and one by Jim Swick.

The cast of characters included: Brian Karli, Steve Beaver, John Downey, Greg Stringer, Greg Koontz, Larry Ernewein, Richard Epton, Mary, Zak & Gordon Clement, Gail & Doedo Schipper, Dave Gidzinski, Joe Vasile, Jerry Wells, Gene Spainhour, Steve Hawley, Len Elmendorf, and Arayan Lias. (Sorry if I missed any.)

The flying was as good as the weather, and the food and hospitality were just as wonderful. There were particularly noteworthy things that it would be remiss of me not to report:

Larry Ernewein flew his absolutely magnificent Tigre powered Jungmann all the way from Canada to win the "furthest travelled" prize. (How Larry's Jungmann is so completely perfect after many years of flight, when mine looks worse after only 20 hours is a mystery as well as an embrassment.) Brian Karli and Dave Gidzinski won the flour bombing contest (Dave is the bombadier of choice for these contests) , Jerry Wells and Greg Koontz wowed everyone present with the performance of their Jungmeisters, and the display put on by Greg Koontz in Gordon's Jungmann '47G was inspiring.

Greg had flown the aircraft years ago while it was owned by Jim Moser and told us many stories about the aircraft and its former life. When he flew it, however, all present were spellbound. Some pilots are very precise, some are graceful, but it is rare indeed to see a display in which both attributes come together so perfectly. Greg's display was as near to perfect as I could tell from the ground. Every line straight and true, every loop round and symmetrical, yet the whole flight had a balletic grace reminiscent of Manfred Radius. It was truly a priviledge to watch.

Greg also displayed the incredible 360HP Vendenyev powered Swick Jungmeister owned by Gary Reed of Cincinnati, OH. Needless to say, it was spectacular!

I suspect most visitors to this site will have read about the famous Valley Mills "Tiger days." It occured to several of us at Mountain Airpark this weekend that somehow the stars had realigned, the spirit of Frank Price, of Jim Swick, and of all the great pilots of their day were with us, and that the fly-in had become the Tiger day of 2012. Whether amongst the pine trees of Kitty Hawk estates, or the mountains of North Georgia, the Bucker and barbeque fly-in has become one of the highlights of the flying year.

As I receive them, more pictures will be posted in the gallery section here: BuBBQ 2012 If you would like copies of the pictures via Picasaweb, Dropbox, or on CD-ROM, please let me know and I would be pleased to offer them in that way.

The 2012 Bu & BBQ fly-in will go down as one of the best ever. A HUGE thank you to Mary and Gordon Clement, Brian Karli, and to all of the friends and neighbors at Mountain Airpark who made it happen.

I would like to add a couple of personal notes here. There are aircraft so rare, so special, and so precious that a person can realistically only dream about what it must be like to fly them. For me one of those dreams came true on Saturday when I was given the unbeiievable priviledge of flying Jerry Well's Jungmeister. I could write about the experience for the rest of this page, but I will limit myself to saying that it was even better than I had dreamed. In every way, the flight of a lifetime. Thank you, Jerry!

Finally, although all present enjoyed each other's company enormously, we missed those who could not make it this time, and missed no one more than Barb and Larry Grondzk, and Talmadge Scott. Health problems are the pits. We so hope that you will be back in the saddle very soon.