Hello, this is Mosca from the old Air Warrior ACCS. I didn't transit to AH, but this post is about a shared interest. I'm passing along an email I got from my friend Chris. I was going to volunteer for this, but that weekend is my daughter's graduation. But this is something that folks here might be interested in; maybe get an Aces High contingent, meet up folks, stuff like that:
Hi Everybody!
As many of you might know, I am involved with the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in
Reading (
www.maam.org) and our signature event "WWII Weekend" is scheduled
for June 5, 6 & 7. There are almost a thousand volunteers that help out
during the event and the entire weekend could not take place without them.
I am one of the coordinators for the Flightline Safety crew. Flightline
Safety personnel are responsible for keeping the event visitors safely
separated from things like spinning propellers, B17's taxing down the ramp,
and 100 octane aviation fuel.
Unfortunately, we have had multiple people pull out at the last moment due
to an unprecedented string of surgeries, accidents, and other personal
problems. Right now we are in dire need of volunteers for Sunday, June 7'th.
What's involved? Forming corridors for safe movement of the aircraft,
actually moving some of the small birds, keeping people away from aircraft
being refueled and people safe and off the runways as per FAA regs. You
would be assigned to teams with experienced people so you would always have
someone around that knows what's up.
It is an 8 hour shift for the full day, if we can get 4 hours in the
afternoon that is a help also.
What do you get? Free admission that day, you get to be on the OTHER side of
the line, and I cannot tell you what it feels like to push a Hawker
Hurricane towards a parking spot and realize you are touching a plane that
fought in the Battle of Britain and that riveted patch you're hand is on is
literally a patch from the battle over the skies of London.
you get to see close-up some literally once-in-a-lifetime moments that are
simply amazing.... I remember a couple years ago, when we had one of the two
remaining flying Lancaster bombers in the world come in. It was one of our
rainy weekends.... we were monitoring the Lanc's progress into the pattern
on the radio and were frankly surprised they had risked coming in with the
rain and very low cloud cover.
Then, we saw the first glimmer of landing lights. As the Lanc came in for
final, we could make it out in all it's flat black night bomber glory. As it
approached the runway, we suddenly realized she was in her element.... how
many dreary, wet, cold, overcast nights did she land in East Anglia? How
many times did she fight her way home from the Rhine or Berlin to land with
the clouds almost on the ground?
As she taxied back up to the ramp where we were preparing to meet her, her
sister plane from Toronto came zooming in for a low pass over the field. For
one second, which several people were fortunate enough to capture, the Lanc
was silhouetted against the overcast and rain while the Spitfire passed in
the background.
That was as close to a time warp as I've ever been in, I'll tell you what.
If anyone is interested, please contact me, Chris, at six one zero, five zero four -
eight three two four.
