Mission
The idea is to have fun with our WWI airplanes and celebrate the knights of the air who flew them. The events are intended to be non-intimidating and put the maximum number of planes in the air at once, in close proximity for great photo opportunities. No special flying skills are expected or required.
Slow Fliers go first before the breeze gets up. Then everything else.
This first event will be pretty much a practice and photo session. We need to find out what works best, and which events people like best.
| EVENT | DESCRIPTION | |
| 1 | Limbo | The Limbo celebrates the rivalry among German pilot officers to see who could fly under the lowest bridge. Mike Sidwell is building our Limbo poles. They will be 25 ft. apart. The entire circus will fly in quick succession under the tape, starting at 6 feet. The tape will be lowered in 1 foot increments, down to 2 feet. The lightweight tape is airplane friendly and clipped in place so lightly it releases at a touch. |
| 2 | Pylon Race | Let's try the short course (75 ft) for more action! Reno style start (all airborne at start time). Fly 5 laps. It's over very quickly. We used to fly this regularly and never lost a plane. The Slow Flyers will have their own race. |
| 3 | Formation | Let's start with two at a time. Point man calls the turns with plenty of warning, not to exceed 30 degree bank. Wing man flys 10 ft. behind, 10 feet to the side, and 5 ft above. Judges decide which team keeps best formation over one lap, followed by a level figure 8. |
| 4 | Precision Bomb Drop | We will supply bombs for the first meet. Not restricted to WWI planes. There will be high altitude bombing, low level (strafe) bombing, and dive bombing. The event starts once the entire circus is airborne. The Air Marshal then calls in each aircraft in quick succession. |
| 5 | Military Maneuvers | Immelman, loop, split S, stall turn etc. Maneuvers for quick escape and for getting into attack position. |
| 6 | Combat | Short streamers for the slow fliers, 6 ft for the rest. We will supply streamers. This event may contain aircraft of very different speeds. If so the Air Marshal will call in each plane separately to attack from a great height while the rest of the circus is constrained to a low level. |
| 7 | Finale | Giant Streamer Release by the Hamble Biplane |