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The Grassroots fly-in, hosted each year at Brodhead by EAA Chapter 431 and the Midwest Antique Airplane Club (MAAC). This is always a great event, and 2009 was no exception. I flew the Waco down to Brodhead for the day on Saturday, September 12th. In the front cockpit was Jack Dueck, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Jack was visiting Oshkosh on some EAA business and was available to tag along to Grassroots. He’d never been to Brodhead, so he had a really busy day trying to see everything in the hangars as well as all the fly-in traffic. He even bought a Honda scooter while he was there!!
This year I parked the Waco right next to Tom Brown’s QDC. Tom’s airplane is the oldest cabin Waco flying, and he doesn’t let it sit still too long.
Here’s another shot of my Waco, looking across the tail of Bob Howie’s RNF.
Other Wacos in attendance included the CRG (one of only two ever built) owned by Pete Heins, here seen parked next to his brother Andy’s YKC-S.
Here’s another view of the CRG.
Jeff Skiles, co-pilot of the US Airways flight that suffered bird strikes and ended up landing in the Hudson River, and also now co-chairman of the EAA Young Eagles program, had just purchased this Waco YOC from Doc Jaeger. He was in the process of getting a checkout from Larry Harmacinski.
Of course there were all kinds of other aircraft at Brodhead for Grassroots. The star of the weekend had to be this Pitcairn Autogyro, recently restored by Jack Tiffany and his crew. The Pitcairn was flown to and during Grassroots by Andrew King.
There were cars at Brodhead too. Bill Knight had several of his classic cars on display, including this Packard. I was fortunate enough to get a ride in this beauty. My driver was Bill’s faithful assistant, Scott Bruns. Thanks Scott (and Bill too)!!
All in all, another great gathering at Grassroots. This fly-in is a nice way to start winding down the Waco flying season. Once Brodhead comes and goes days start getting short and the temperatures start heading for lower numbers. The end of the season isn’t imminent, but it’s starting to come into view. Thanks to everyone who has a hand in making Grassroots happen. Y’all do a great job!!
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