CASCADE WABIRDS HAS SUPER FLY DAY AND PARTY
By Kerry Edwards, Public Information Officer
Sign In desk highly visible, super organized, ready to go. Photo by Bob Stoney
They say that summer doesn’t begin in Seattle until the fifth of July, but Saturday June 8 was perfect for Cascade Warbirds Fly Day and Party. The day began sunny and warm and then thin high clouds held ideal conditions at Arlington Airport for volunteer pilot owners to give rides to members and special invited guests. Initiated by new XO Bob Stoney, 13 pilots conducted 29 flights (a total of 39 passenger seats were filled) giving rides to squadron members and their families who support Squadron events and young applicants and winners of the CWB Memorial Scholarship. Many got two rides, experiencing rare opportunities.
All were exposed to an amazing variety of aircraft. The most unusual was the Czech Super Aero 45 of Bill Shepherd. Then there was the open cockpit Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 of Tom “TP” Jensen, the tandem cockpit of Bob Stoney’s Korea/Vietnam vintage O-1E, the four place Seabee of Tom Hoag, two IAR 823s (Bob Hill and Vic Norris ) two Navions (Steve Baldwin and Eric Olsen), the Cessnas of Bob Brahm, David Ray, Tom Wayne, and the Piper Warrior of Stan “Sundance” Kasprzyk. Dan Barry flew his Aronca L-3 in for a long visit and Joe Griffith made a quick flyby in his Nanchang CJ-6.
The Czech Super Aero 45 is the only one in North America and caught everyone’s eye with its art deco appearance, and twin inline inverted engines. Bill has upgraded those to supercharged, fuel injected 160 hp. It’s a real beauty. Seabee (Yes, it’s a warbird) pilot Tom Hoag gave at least a few riders the experience of splash down in an amphibian in one of the many lakes in northern Snohomish County.
Ops Officer Dan Shoemaker had the task of scheduling and pairing pilots and riders as he manned a super organized registration table set up in the airport office conference room well before the 10am starting time. He smoothly adapted to the many opportunities that opened up throughout the day.
Because the pilots would be arriving at different times making a pilot briefing difficult, XO Stoney recorded a detailed mandatory briefing to be viewed on the internet. It presented a basic route for our pilots that carefully fit an appropriate amount of time into an area and gave consideration to the traffic patterns of this multi-runway, uncontrolled airport that even has glider operations.
The Arlington Airport provided incredible support to CWB, sharing their conference room and restroom facilities to serve as a headquarters for the event, and a patio and shade-treed area right next to the ramp where CWB airplanes were parked, allowing for conversation as flight operations were conducted. The CWB extends a huge thanks to the staff of Arlington Airport, particularly Taylor Mozingo and LeAlyce Miller.
While the airplanes were cool, all aviators know that food is the key to any good party. With an extensive buffet supplied by the Squadron and produced and coordinated with the incredibly hard work of Bridget Wellen available all day, it was a social event par excellence. Bruce Campbell, Kyle and Mary Yates, Anne Woodley and Colleen Hale and many others assisted all day. Very long time members Jon and Ann Bowman, Tom and Janet Cathcart, and Bud Granley brought a richness to the conviviality that included some members who didn’t choose to fly. Several young people (children of members, along with scholarship students) participated, learning more about aviation from the older crowd. CO Dave Desmon, with his plane still in the shop for its annual, and himself just out of the shop (scheduled surgery), kept conversation alive.
The CWB Marshallers that included Paul Youman, Rich Cook, John Haug, Colleen Hale, Pete Jackson, and trainee Brian Ruby had their hands full with so many planes coming and going continuously all day. Their efforts directly led to an event with no ground safety issues…the goal of any good operation.
All in all, it was agreed that the “Fly Day and Party” was a success and the attendees repeatedly stated that they looked forward to the next such event.
The day closed with a three ship honor flight at the Heritage Flight Museum saluting our great friend, the late Major General William A. Anders.
Arrival of Bill Shepherd in his art deco style Czech Super Aero 45.
Photo by Dan Shoemaker.
Steve Baldwin’s L-17 Navion in appropriate livery. It was actually used by NASA and later owned by astronaut Fred Haise. Photo by David M Atkinson.
2024 Cascade Warbirds Scholarship winner Sejal Shah and her mother about to take off with Bob Hill in his IAR 823. Photo by Dan Shoemaker.
Tom Jensen gives a front seat open air experience in his US Navy built N3N-3. The Coast Guard livery is correct as the Coast Guard received four brand new in 1941. Photo by David M Atkinson.
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Tom Jensen is directed into a parking space by Marshaller Rich Cook on return from a flight in the N3N-3. Photo by Dan Shoemaker.
2024 Cascade Warbirds Scholarship winner Kaitlyn Calawa got her first ride of the day with Tom Jensen in his N3N-3. Photo by John Haug
Bob Stoney takes another passenger up in his O-1E Birddog. This beautifully restored veteran was an award winner at Airventure in 2022. Photo by Bob Hafford.
Long time member Doug Owens got one of the last rides of the day in the O-1E with Bob Stoney who was the pilot who made the most flights in Cascade Warbirds 2024 Fun Day and Party. Photo by Dan Shoemaker.