With exactly four weeks until the start of the AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in, today (Aug. 4th) saw the first arrival for the Fly-in. Eric Presten and family arrived at Antique Airfield with their Bleriot replica in tow. The Bleriot is one of the key airplanes for this years event being a tie-in to "Iowa's 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight".
The Presten's had the Bleriot on the American Barnstormer's Tour earlier this summer as well as on display at Oshkosh last week. It currently is stored in Hangar #2 awaiting Eric's return in a few weeks to be assembled and flown (weather permitting) to give all our attendees a look back at aviation's earliest days. It will in fact, be the first time an aircraft with wing warping will have been flown from Antique Airfield. While it was a rainy dreary day here at Antique Airfield, Eric brightened everyone's mood by running the engine a bit before putting the Bleriot to bed in Hangar #2. With short stacks the Rotec Radial has a distinctive and most likely period sound to it. We look forward to seeing the Bleriot take to the skies from Antique Airfield in a few weeks.
Enjoy this short video (by Ben Taylor) of the engine run.
