If you love building and flying WW1 aircraft, you’ll have noticed that there are a lot of “Dawn Patrol” events springing up all over the country. One of the very first, and best organized Dawn Patrol events you can attend, is hosted by the Long Island Sky Hawks club. This impressive giant scale gathering always draws a nice collection of WW1 and early aviation aeroplanes and they don’t just sit around looking pretty. The guys from the club have turned their Dawn Patrol from a regular multi-wing giant scale fun fly, into an even more fun semi-competition with low pressure events like the Bomb Drops, Balloon Busts and a Spot Landings to add to your flight scores. And for many, the flying really does start at the crack of dawn, the club has it’s own flying field and is out away from neighborhoods so the engines roar to life as soon as the sun peeks above the horizon. Add some early morning fog, and a good hot cup of coffee, and you really feel like you are on the front lines.
Several club members camp out at the Dawn Patrol meet and put in their first flights in the wee hours of the morning.
(Above) Video courtesy of Ron Preston
And there is always action around the balloon bust target area!
Also as a special bonus, club member Nick Ziroli Jr., made several low level passes with his beautiful Stearman Biplane.
And for the flightline, there’s always tons of WW1 eye candy to see up close and in the traffic pattern.
There were about 35 pilots at last year’s event and a lot of WW1 biplanes on the flightline and in the traffic pattern. The club’s flying field is also a great reason to come and fly as part of the Dawn Patrol event! It’s actually on a Sod Farm field and smooth as a putting green!
Be sure to check out the club’s Facebook page for more information on the Dawn Patrol event and for pix of the club members’ building projects.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Long-Island-Skyhawks-Dawn-Patrol/145897418938626
See ya in the trenches next year , the event is always the first weekend in August!
Dawn patrol indeed! This event represents the dawn of aviation (Kittyhawk having occured in the wee hours). What a squadron and Jagstaffel of wonderful models. The videos are fine productions show-casing what club flying is all about. Great fun!