(Morning shot. Camping under the wing.)

 

A Fabulous Fly-In

   

Although some iffy weather on Friday kept a few planes away the 150+ that made the trip to this year's Hood River Fly in at WAAAM had a weekend to remember.   The festivities started with a mouth watering Pilot's Night Spaghetti Feed and beer garden. The evening continued with Aviation Trivia followed by hours of story sharing (and beer drinking) around the campfire. As the stars came out and the night grew late, pilots and their quests headed off to sleep in tents under the wings of their planes.

Saturday morning started early with a Lions Club breakfast as tents were put away, antiques were polished and the public started to show up. About 2,000 visitors attend WAAAM during the fly-in enjoying the beautiful old planes, museums exhibits, pulled pork sandwiches and kids play area. Saturday night concluded with a tri-tip dinner prepared by the Westside Fire Department, awards for the best planes, silent auction, hanger dance and S'more making around the campfire.

 

Breakfast Sunday morning was accompanied by the sound of antique airplanes starting to head home. They created a stunning sight as these beautiful planes flew in front of a glorious Mt. Hood. Later in the day, a few of the old cars were started up by their owner/volunteers and a many lucky visitors got to take a memorable ride down history lane.

A huge thank you goes out to the dozens of volunteers who made the weekend possible. At the end of the day, one tired volunteer said, "I am exhausted, but it is a good exhausted. It is so much fun to be part of something like WAAAM.  I am proud of what we did here this weekend."  

 

 

An automobile story by Don Briggs
 
I purchased my 1927 E80 Chrysler Imperial Cabriolet in early 1977 and spent the next 10 years gathering parts and doing a ground up restoration.  The car, which has an aluminum body, was damaged in a garage fire in California during the 1950's.  From there it went to a collector in Reno, Nevada, where it sat in storage until purchased in the early 1970's by a collector in Hillsboro, Oregon and then it came to me.    
 
Most of the body was either melted, or softened to the point of being useless. I recovered the damaged parts of the body by hand shaping and forming the sheet aluminum.  I also made the front bumper and many other small parts and accessories as needed.  All of the restoration work except for the upholstery, metal plating and engine machine work was done by me. This included completely disassembling, cleaning and painting inside and out, rebuilding all the mechanics and then reassembling.  
 
The car is equipped with factory hydraulic brakes, 309 cu.in. 92 HP  6 cylinder engine and was advertised as an 80 MPH car. The body features suicide doors, a golf club door on the side, rumble seat and leather upholstery. The wire wheels and the side mount spare tires were both options for this car.  
The Imperial Cabriolet was designed and built by the Phillips Body Company for Chrysler. They were located in Warren, Ohio and specialized in convertible coupes during the mid-late 1920s. In addition to building the Imperial body they produced bodies for Packard, Stutz and Pierce Arrow. The cost of a Imperial Cabriolet in 1927 was $3,400 (about $42,000 in today's dollars.) There were only a limited number of these cars produced and they are extremely rare now.
 
Don Briggs not only restores old cars, he also volunteers at WAAAM.  Thank you Don for sharing your story and helping make WAAAM wonderful.

 

The 2rd annual United Way Luau was held at WAAAM in September.  WAAAM is a proud supporter of United Way of the Columbia Gorge and was thrilled to host their fundraising kickoff event for the second year. "We plan on having our annual kickoff every year in this beautiful air/automobile museum" reported one of the organizers. "This facility is such a great spot for a large fundraiser.  We're lucky to have such a great facility right in our backyard. Thanks for providing such a perfect spot for our event."

United Way allocated almost $150,000 to 32 agencies helping people within our community.  Agencies like, the Fish Food bank, Casa, Columbia Gorge Children's Advocacy Center, Hospice of the Gorge, Big Brothers Big Sisters, St. Francis House, and many, many more human services agencies depend on United way to help support their missions.  To donate to the United Way of the Columbia Gorge, visit their website.  Your donation will definitely make a difference in individuals lives right here in the Gorge.