WASHINGTON DC-The Dulles Day Festival and Plane Pull is not your typical aviation event. Organized to raise money for the Special Olympics, the Dulles Day Festival features military and civilian aircraft on display together with a car show and live music. The overall tone of the Dulles Day Festival is a relaxed venue where spectators can interact and socialize with pilots and automobile drivers and get a close-up view of their machines.
The crowning event of the Dulles Day Festival is a plane pull where various teams compete to pull a Fed Ex Boeing 757 a fixed distance to see which team can accomplish the task in the shortest time. The beneficiary of the festival was the Special Olympics Virginia which has raised 1.77 million dollars since 2005. The Special Olympics use sport activities as a vehicle for social change to create opportunities for meaningful interaction for those persons suffering from disabilities. The Dulles Day Festival and 20th Annual Plane Pull raised $160,000 for Special Olympics Virginia.
As is true in most cooperative endeavors, the people who work to put on a major event like the Dulles Day Festival are generally not recognized for their efforts. As a pilot and spectator at the event, I cannot begin to report on all those who should be recognized. However, from my perspective, I can tell you about some of the people I observed working during the event.
John Kerwin of the Dulles Metropolitan Airport Authority is extremely and considerate of the persons who participate in the event. He sent any number of emails and communicated by telephone before the event to ensure that all the paperwork was in place to allow my replica Nakajima "Kate" bomber to attend the festival.
Chris Browne, a former navy pilot and the Vice President and Airport Manager, was on hand to supervise and oversee the events. During the course of the Dulles Day Festival, Chris Browne introduced me to Astronaut Joe Edwards, since Chris and Joe had flown to the Dulles Day Festival in Edwards' T-28.
Also working the flight line was Pat Robinson, a museum specialist with the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. Pat was busy attending to the needs of aircraft and pilots and fire guarding aircraft during the course of engine starts.Besides spending time with people at Dulles who made things happen, I got to spend time with the members of the Old Dominion Wing of the Commemorative Air Force including T. R. Proven, an FAA inspector and accomplished pilot. Any time you get an aviation lawyer an FAA inspector together, you can expect a lively conversation.
-Excerpt of Flight Watch article by Alan Armstrong, who participated in the event, flying his replica Nakajima "Kate" bomber from Georgia to Dulles. Reprint and photos, courtesy of Alan Armstrong. FMI: Plane Pull