Park Hawk flies at Top Gun

[eflyer12345]

Hi all,

I had hoped that I would make it to Top Gun as a pilot some day. That day has come! Unfortunately, I am not a contestant. I had the privledge to fly the Park Hawk at the Top Gun mid day show. I will also be flying it on both days this weekend.

The Park Hawk did fine and was loved by the crowd. I will say it is a lot different flying in front of 1500+ people!

-Jeffrey

[t6e23]

Cool! Sounds like fun. Did you do any stunts with it? Can it do loops or anything like that?

--Todd

[foss1997]

eflyer,

How do you like the new venue at lakeland? Have you ever been to top gun at the polo grounds? Just wondering what its like b/c i used to go to it all the time as a kid. Cant wait till I get to go back again! What are some of the other attractions/highlights youve seen?

Scott

[eflyer12345]

I did not do any loops or stunts. Although Brian Chan says he managed to loop it once, it is not something to try for the first time in front of thousands. As it was, I messed up and hit the ground on my first launch. This was because I launched downwind. I was not allowed to launch towards the crowd. This I can fully understand. After I picked it up, I just threw it in the air and flew it. Talk about embaressing, there were 2600+ people there today! Besides, I also do not think you will get much aerobatics out of this.

As far as the new venue is concerned, I can not compare against the Polo club as I had never been there. I was sitting and talking to several of the pilots and they all said this was a much safer and larger setup. They did say however that there was less seating for spectators. The flying was standard, with quite a few misshaps. I hope I do not ruin it for anyone, but Terry Nitcsh will not win this year. Yesterday he totaled his entry which brought tears to his and several others eyes. $25+ K down the tubes, ouch! The day before a jet went down in the woods at the end of the runway and started a several acre forest fire. How that did not make the local news..... All told I have seen 8 aircraft crash so far and there are probably more. :-(

The best part of the show is the Park Hawk! Biased here. :-)

-Jeffrey

[foss1997]

Thnks for the update! My dads flying but I havent heard from him all week :-(. Thats too bad about terry. While its nothing new that WAY too many great planes are lost every year at top gun, it IS unusual for such a great pilot to lose one....

Scott

[eflyer12345]

Well with Terry it was a freak accident. When he released his drop tanks, one blew back and got caught up on the aileron. Nothing he could do...