Air Shows & Summertime
Summer
in America, first means public beaches, parks, and swimming pools across
the country open for business with lifeguards and park rangers ready
to greet the crowds.
Secondly, batting averages for baseball players swing
into loftier numbers as hitters greet the warming temperatures (hopefully)
with some heat of their own.
But for those of us who love aviation, the Summer
Air Show is the most anticipated event, and in America the schedules
are just amazing.
Our favorite is to drive up from New York City to
Rhinebeck, New York, a sleepy Hudson Valley community a couple hours
north where the countryside is dotted with bed & breakfast inns
and small towns.
In Rhinebeck we visit the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome,
where on summer weekends the most amazing array of lovingly restored,
vintage WWI aircraft go airborne—flown first by our friend the
late (1993) Cole Palen, and now a dedicated (mostly volunteer) crew
that flies and maintains one of the world’s biggest collections
of early 20th-century aircraft.
This is the 53rd year at Old Rhinebeck with weekend
air shows running until October 13.
The Saturday performances chronicle the history of
flight and offer spectators the opportunity to view a dogfight demo;
on Sundays, World War I aircraft and biplanes from the 1920s and ’30s
take off and land at 40 mph on grass runways, and are absolutely thrilling
to watch in action.
Avid aviation enthusiasts can also view the Valley
from above while riding in an authentic 1929 biplane ($75 & Up).
Weekend admission: $20, $15 seniors & children
ages 13-17, $5 ages 6-12, under 5 free. 845-752-3200; www.oldrhinebeck.org
All
About Air Shows
Just in time for 2014, Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine
has put up a great, easy-to-use web directory of air shows taking place
this summer across the USA, along with companion website listings for
these events.
So get ready to have some fun, and enjoy this preview
as the adventure in the skies arrives on your doorstep where you can
view it up close and personal.
A visit to the airport is right
around the corner.
Click here
or on map above to plan your air show summer schedule.
Geoffrey/Flossie
