Grape Harvest Fly-In
Almost a dozen aviation enthusiast showed up for the second annual Grape Harvest Fly-In held at Benton Air Park Saturday August 28, 2021. Even though the temperature was in the low 90's and wind ranging from 15 to 25 mph this was a good turnout (and there were no grapes).
The event time was from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.Chuck Gatzner, the host, provided donuts and coffee (shudda made that iced coffee) and took us on a tour of his manufacturing facility in his hangar home. Chuck is experimenting with a flying wing powered by twin ducted fans mounted in the center wing section. He eliminates ailerons, their servos, and control rods by mounting reversible fans in the wingtips. These fans serve to change pitch and effect turns. Pretty clever.
Chucks planes are made of foam, fiberglass, and 3-D printed center section pieces. Each of his four models represent an evolution in the aircraft's design. He should have been at AirVenture to see the technology associated with "blown wings."
Understandably, the wind and temperature kept some fliers from attending. However one long-range flier came in his Cessna all the way from Marion, 60 miles distance. It was a headwind coming south, and with a strong tailwind going home he will really fly! Benton Air Park is only about 10 miles from my hangar at Cook Field. So, even though both temperature and wind conditions were beyond my comfort limits, I flew my AirBike anyway because the turbulence and heat had to be endured for only a short while. Total engine run time that day was .7 hours.
As I age (77), I am less tolerant of the heat, humidity, and bright sun. I start to wilt after a couple of hours. I cut my visit short and returned home at 11:30. My AirBike is post-flight checked-over, fueled, and tucked away waiting its next flight.
Paul D. Fiebich
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