Pioneer Flight Museum Air Fair

I headed out today to the Pioneer Flight Museum at the Kingsbury Aerodrome for their Air Fair – and I gotta say it was excellent.

I went down 183 to Lockhart – which was you know – like driving down 183 – pretty boring – but the weather was nice and not too much traffic. But I cut off in Lockhart and went out 20 through Fentress and then south on Kingsbury Road into Kingsbury. Nice county roads.

The Air Fair was great. The guys running this have the right idea – whether it was the planes, or old Model-T trucks, or the 1919 Indian sidehack rig – run it.

This Indian was in great shape – they kicked it over and started to give kids rides.

This was cool – a bike with an old Maytag washing machine engine – note the 3/4″ wrench welded in place  to engage the drive, and the custom oil can holder with paint matched oil can. When the thing ran it sounded like a string of firecrackers – pop – pop – pop.  I love it.

And a lot more vehicles – all running – and all running around. But yes, it was an Air Fair – just no grazing on the strip.

The Yellow Peril – A US Navy Stearman N2S-3 – which was the primary trainer for both the USAAF and the USN through WWII.

With an beautiful Continental radial engine.  7 cylinders, 220-240 HP, only weighed about 450 pounds.

 

If anything needed to be towed – this T-Model truck was on the job.

 

It wouldn’t be an air show without a Cub.

 

This beauty is a Canuck – it’s a Canadian version of the Curtis JN-3 trainer, and was the first plane to go into commercial production Canada.

 

The engine in the Canuck is a Curtis OX-5, liquid cooled V-8. Look at the water jackets around each cylinder.

 

And the control stick in the Canuck  – is – a stick.

 

The pilot of this Nieuport buzzed the field and then did a few Immelmans before coming in and landing and running up into the hangar.

 

An 80hp LeRhone Rotary engine. The entire engine spins – this was an engineering solution to a metallurgy problem (Russian motorcycle owners can relate to that). It was difficult to cast/machine fins long/thin enough to get enough cooling on the cylinders – so spinning the engine provided cooling.

 

You pretty much just bolted the engine to the front of the plane and you were good to go.

 

Looking across the strip. An excellent Air Fair. The Pioneer Flight Museum is definitely worth a look.

I headed back along Prairie Lea Road – nice little county road –

And had a nice crossing of the San Marcos River – with a 13 inch deficit in rain this year – this is about the only thing around that is green.

And since I had to run back through Lockhart – it wouldn’t be right not to stop for some shoulder and ribs at Smitty’s. Yum.

Go Ride

Kevo