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sparty
03-03-2010, 18:11
Anyone ever checked this out in person?

http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/

I've seen some of the videos on YouTube...it seems like quite an event!!! I just wondered if anyone had been there personally or knows anything about it.

Grinneth42
03-04-2010, 08:57
I actually used to live in Rhinebeck... and attended the aerodrome a few times with friends. You can arrange for a ride, but I haven't been able to do that yet. Hopefully this summer. And its a beautiful area of the country, lots of history and 'stuff'. If you get the chance, you should go!

Voss
03-04-2010, 10:48
I have been there as recently as last fall and also have a membership.
It is a great place and the show is good. If you are near by it is well worth the trip(It takes me 6 hours to get there). The planes are parked up close and after the airshow you can sometimes look inside them with permission.

sparty
03-04-2010, 17:29
Yeah it's only about a 12 hour drive from Raleigh up there. My wife says she went there as a kid and remembers they had some old barncat named Tailspin or something like that.

The videos on YouTube have me pretty stoked to check it out for myself.

Charlie3
03-04-2010, 18:38
Yes I've been there.

It's an airplane Museum where the planes actually fly!!
Just go!!!!!!!!!!!

Really It's great fun and did I mention the planes really fly??

Volant Gun
03-04-2010, 20:31
This old geezer has been dreaming about going there since I was a kid! For all of you who have been there done that, all I can say is that I'm green with envy! :D Some day, some day.

Oberst Hajj
03-04-2010, 21:56
Humm... an annual Wings of War Aerodrome gathering perhaps?? lol

Volant Gun
03-04-2010, 22:47
YEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAA Baby!

Charlie3
03-08-2010, 19:34
Humm... an annual Wings of War Aerodrome gathering perhaps?? loljust name the date!!

sparty
03-09-2010, 17:44
You know what's funny...I bet they'd LOVE that actually....

After all they do discuss, from what I can tell, how the planes fought and a little history about each one on air show and dogfight days.

Having a "living history" area where Wings of War fans man tables and play the game and do demos would probably go a long way with them...and might convince them to let us use the space to hold the games, etc. after hours in the presence of some incredible replicas!

Oberst Hajj
03-09-2010, 23:47
Well, with the new pilot nearly here at my place, I don't think I'd be able to swing a trip there this year... but maybe next year... just maybe.

Velox
04-02-2010, 04:16
About 30+ years ago I had my first experience with the old Rhinebeck Aerodrome squadron. I was a little kid playing out in my front yard watching the skies as there was an Airshow in my town that weekend. I saw quite a few jets fly overhead on their was to land at the airshow. To my surprise I heard the sound of multiple propeller driven aircraft flying above, when I looked up I was delighted to see a small squadron ( 4 or 5 ) WWI fighter planes flying in formation. This was the group from Rhineback and if I recall correctly it was being lead by what looked like a Black Fokker DrI ( a replica I found out many years later ). It was the coolest thing to see. Those guys must have flown those planes a few good hours to make it to that airshow. I don't imagine it was an easy trip. It was a great memory.

Years later I took the long drive up to Rheinbeck to see the Aerodrome myself. It was a grass airstrip in the middle of a very wooded area of New York. There wasn't a lot to see there, they had some mock hangers and a few aircraft sitting around that you could look at and a museum with the history of the Aerodrome. If i remember correctly I also read that a few years before they had a Black Fokker DR1 crash where the pilot was killed. This made me sad as I had always remembered that plane from when it flew over my house. Ill have to see if I can find information about that and post a link here.

The main attraction of the Aerodrome is the Airshow. They put on a little show where they bring out the various planes that they have there and show them off, they would all roll down the grassy strip and take off to circle around over the trees. You can't believe how tiny the planes seem. They flew low over the grandstands and trees so you could see them in action. It was an amazing sight, I grew up loving this stuff and to actually get to see those planes in action was an amazing treat. They did some mock dogfights between the good guy and the bad guy and ended the airshow with the good guy and the bad guy getting into a fight on the runway. The day that I went there I was in for a rare treat, in the next county they were having an airshow and three of the planes came to visit the Aerodrome and help the good guy in his fight against the bad buy by coming in for a bombing run and dropping a flour sack bomb on the bad guy. From behind the grand stands just barely over the tree tops flew in a B-25 Mitchell Bomber escorted by a p-51 mustang and a p47 thunderbolt. During the airshow I was used to the droning sound of the little engines in the WWI fighters but you can't believe how powerful the sound and vibrations were of that bomber flying over head. It was awesome. I never expected that and wish they would have told us sooner that it was going to happen as I would have killed to have my camera ready. The bomber absolutely dwarfed everything at the airfield and I am sure that it was too large to ever attempt a landing on the grass strip. That show is something I will always remember. The Rhinebeck airshow is a fantastic thing to see for guys like us who love the old planes but that day was a once in a life time chance to see both the WWI and WWI planes flying by so close. I hope they keep that place running long enough so my son will be able to go and see an amazing airshow.

sparty
04-12-2010, 20:34
VERY Cool. Thanks for sharing Glen.

They have had an unfortunate number of accidental deaths there over the years. It's just the nature of the planes I suppose, but still it's very sad to hear about that happening.

Quag
05-05-2010, 17:34
If there is one thing that makes me jealous of the Us and you guys it's the fact that you can get such brilliant groups together and have the space and land that they can exist....fantastic.

(me I'll have to make do with all our museums...)

I hope I get to see them one day!

check6
05-05-2010, 22:18
ah yes, but if I learned anything from my early childhood in England, you guys have the best airshows and museums. as for an Old Rheinbeck, you have the shuttleworth collection that flies their aircraft regularly during the summers.

WilliamBarkerVC
12-03-2010, 23:24
I would be interested in making a trip from Canada for a meet-up - my wife enjoys travel and we haven't been anywhere on the east coast of the US, except Florida. Could be quite the adventure!

The Cowman
12-03-2010, 23:50
Hey if nothing else I could catch a bus from Columbus, or a cheap flight from Florida... Sounds fun! Just don't set it up at the same time as Origins! ;)

Skullduggery
12-04-2010, 02:02
That may be do-able given enough advance notice for planning time.

Willi Von Klugermann
12-04-2010, 10:32
It's a great place to vist. The Hudson Valley is especially beautiful in the fall.
It could be part of a long weekend trip as West Point , Bear Mountain and Mohonk are not too far away. Lots of small B&Bs to stay in.

For their current lineup of flyable planes check the website. Many of the WWIs were reproductions and some have been moved to the museum. They did have an original Curtiss Jenny which was airworthy the last time I went.

MayorJim
12-04-2010, 10:46
Glen,
Thanks for sharing your experience there.

aricart
12-04-2010, 20:58
I Went there for the first time 39 years ago,
and the last time about 19 years ago just before we moved away from the area.
every visit was memorable. It was worth every visit.
Even one day when it had rained, they took out a 1908 airplane and just flew it down the runway.
Alberto

Jager
12-05-2010, 09:20
I went with the family way back when i was knee high (far more years than I want to think about). Should have the slides (yes that long ago:eek:) somewhere. If I can find them, and the scans my sisters did with my Dad's, I'll post them. It was a great place.
Karl

wargamer
12-05-2010, 11:55
nice idea... but betwixt travel costs and buying miniatures... well, hope y'all have fun.

jbmacek
01-30-2011, 02:56
I'm going to take the family up there this summer for a combined camping trip/visit the Aerodrome weekend. I've always wanted to go, ever since first seeing it advertised in the back of Ace of Aces, and now, 30 years later, I'm finally going to do it.