The show was in full swing when I arrived: here we see a Fokker DVII after being "shot down" by the Spad; a Dr.I is flying chase.
A close-up of this magnificent replica, built right here at Old Rhinebeck not long ago. That is a vintage Mercedes powering it... what a lovely-sounding engine.
Good ol' G-ACDB (most certainly not a replica) was there, as usual; it joined the "fray", and later participated in a delightful balloon-popping competition with all the other planes. No pix of that, but I got some video- an experiment that yielded pretty good results. What a liusy pic this is... I know, sorry; bear with me here.
Chucking the Dr I around a bit - the absolutely still air had these pilots feeling their oats. Another crappy image but... look; he's in a 90-degree bank. This thing also turns in a very, very small radius, and not just in the flatter turns- he hauled this sucker around. Very cool, and I've never seen this one handled that way before.
Although the light was horrific looking up, it lent a not-unpleasant flat ghostliness to everything on the ground. Here's a look at the gorgeous new Spad VII replica... looks almost too new and clean here; like a model. But believe me, this is a top-notch replica fighter: Hisso 150-hp engine, and fast. Amazingly, despite the almost total lack of forward visibility in this thing and that puny rudder, this pilot scored more hits on the helium ballons during the contest than all the others- including a J3 Cub.
Trying for some more head-on shots... the DVII arrives...
Followed by the evil "Black Baron" in his Dr. I.
Next: part 2!
