The ninth annual Long Island Skyhawks’ Dawn Patrol was a very successful event, and even though the Covid-19 required social distancing at the flying field, the 2020 event went off without a hitch.
The members of the LISHs are serious giant scale modelers and they have developed a great low pressure combo for fun flying with a dash of competition to spice things up. As always, to be a true “Dawn Patroller”, you have to get to the flying field early… really early, like before the sunrise! Then, as the fog clears your airplane must be ready for action.
Most of the regular attendees get to the field on Thursday and help set up the field for the event. The LISHs really do have a great flying field. Leased from a local sod farm, the sod runway is always cut short and there is a centerline chalked down the entire 1,000-foot runway. A spot landing/bomb drop target is marked out midfield, and there are plenty of pilot stations behind the safety fence. During the Dawn Patrol mass flight this year, there were about 10 to 12 pilots socially distanced down the flightline.
Here’s just a couple of photos from the event.
Mission Winners
Bomb drop- Nick Ziroli Jr. Taube
Balloon bust Nick Ziroli Jr.Taube
Spot landing- Ken Donnelly Fokker DVII
Best Multi-Wing Andy Marone Fokker Dr. I Triplane
Best Monoplane Brian Dean Bleriot
Pilots Choice Award Sal Calvagna Ilya Muromets
Lombardi Award (Best Flip-Over) Gene Gavin Fokker Dr. I Triplane
Watch for a detailed event report in an upcoming issue of Model Airplane News.
