AirVenture | Day 7

July 24 | Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful. The Pietenpol pilots were gathered around the fire pit with coffee in hand. The great Pietenpol Not-A-Race-But-A-Performance-Evaluation would start shortly. Tension was in the air…not.

Shelly had come up with the idea of having the Pietenpols fly a fixed timed course and comparing the times for various engine classes two years ago at Brodhead. Dan Helsper was flying his Ford Model A-powered Piet with the new four-bladed prop he had carved himself. Kevin had his Corvair-powered Piet “Rosie” and Jim was flying his Continental A65 People’s Piet. Altogether there were nearly a dozen Pietenpols taking to the skies to fly the course.

Brodhead’s version of the Cleveland Air Races, except that it wasn’t a “race”, it was a “performance evaluation.”

The planes took off several minutes apart and started coming back into the pattern about twenty minutes later. The shortest time wasn’t because the pilot had cheated, but that didn’t necessarily apply to the rest of the pack.

Flying over the Wisconsin farmland means flying over green fields and green trees, with the occasional plowed or harvested field adding a touch of tan and yellow. A couple of the pilots flew further than they needed to because the turn points were “that intersection where Fields Road crosses Tree Lane about two miles east of that pond shaped like a turtle.” When I flew into Brodhead, I made a couple passes “looking for the windsock” because it looks the same but different.

The times were tabulated, the classes were handicapped and the formulas applied. Shelly handed out the pennants to the winners and challenges were made for the event next year. All bets made for this event seem to have been paid in good local beer.

Saturday is also the barbecue. In past years it has varied between pork chops and chicken, and this year chicken won. I usually have one chicken thigh for dinner, maybe with a salad and a vegetable. The Brodhead version of a chicken barbecue starts with half chickens slowly roasted over an open metal sided structure filled with charcoal. Add an ear of corn, some potato salad and a couple mini-eclairs and you have more than I usually eat in three meals.

When in Brodhead for the Pietenpol Fly-in, you have certain obligations. I valiantly tried to finish it all and nearly made it, but had to finally give up with a bit of chicken left on my plate. I didn’t have nightmares that night, but I also wasn’t very hungry in the morning.

They had breakfasts and lunches as well as soft-serve ice cream. You could very easily fly your Pietenpol in and be severely over-grossed when it was time to go home.

Saturday is the day when everything happens at the fly-in, with forums, the Kelch Museum open, and Pietenpols flying all day. With a last visit at the fire pit and a little music and much good conversation, our intrepid band of Pietenpolers started preparing themselves to leave in the morning.