District IV—Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia
Warbirds Over Delaware was held July 10–14, 2013, at Lums Pond State Park in Delaware. Turnout this year was good, with more than 150 registered pilots. This has always been a perfect venue for the gathering of so many warbird models from across the country. This was apparent by the rows of tents on the flightline and the numerous campers parked around the grounds.
Model storage was again provided by the large hangar tent in the parking area. By the looks of it at night, the participants fully utilized this tent — if you didn’t get in early you would miss a spot. I imagine if it were twice the size, it would still fill up. This was a nice addition for most of us who had rather large models that could not be easily taken apart each night. With the marginal weather during the week, it was nice to have such a facility.
Organization representatives
- AMA President Bob Brown
- AMA Executive Director Dave Mathewson
- District IV Vice President Bliss Teague
- Host club member and District IV Associate Vice President John Kirchstein
- District IV Associate Vice President Hank Mausolf (author)
- International Miniature Aircraft Association President Frank Fels and staff
The tents were side by side, so you could meet everyone without going far.
Notable attendees
- Nick Ziroli (Ziroli Plans)
- Dave Wigley (Top Gun fame)
- Matt Chapman (Hobbico)
- Andy Kane (CARF Models)
- Mac Hodges and his B-29 team
- Carl Bachhuber and Paul LeTourneau with their large models
- Several combat veterans from World War II to recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
Notable aircraft and flights
- Balsa USA’s new Albatross — flew well with great scale detail.
- Pete and Dave Malchione — Skymaster A-10 twin turbine.
- Paul LeTourneau — Adam Martin A-10 twin turbine.
- Carl Bachhuber — Hudson Mk V with a 180-inch wingspan and a 200-inch wingspan Convair CC-109 Cosmopolitan; he managed many great flights on both.
- Dave Wigley — a magnificent, scratch-built Bristol Beaufighter; he won Top Gun in 2013.
- Thomas White — an electric-powered Ho 229 twin jet model (designed but never flown in WWII); Thomas produced a short kit and actually flew the design — something the Horten brothers never did.
On Saturday night, the annual barbecue was held. From the looks of the long line, everyone there attended. Even with the long line, it was worth it to partake in the great pork, chicken, corn on the cob, sauerkraut, brats, cookies, and drinks that were provided. After this was over, electric mayhem took place — everyone had a blast shooting at some aircraft with airsoft guns and other projectiles. This was then followed by night flying after sunset.
This is a must-attend event if you are ever in the area in July. It is one of the best warbird gatherings in the country.
—Hank Mausolf
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
