Flamboyance in Pennsylvania

Flight Journal, Dec 2001 by Auliard, Gilles, Baert, John

HOT OFF THE WIRE FROM THE WORLD OF FLIGHT

Every year, the little town of Reading in rural Pennsylvania reverberates to the sounds of machine-gun fire, air-raid alerts and roaring airplane engines. For three days, it becomes the center of an all-out "battle" for supremacy. Organized by the Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM), the WW II commemorative weekend took place this year on June 8 to 10. It brought to the Carl Spaatz Field a complex mix of men and machines and re-created most of the WW II theater of operations.

Even though the focus is on re-enacting the hard-fought ground battles of the conflict, air power is not discounted, and numerous warbirds join in "combined operations." The events were launched-under the watchful eyes of the crew of the MAAM B-25J Briefing Time--on Friday by the staged "liberation" of the town. The conflict, however, started on Friday evening with a Japanese sneak attack on the airport. After a dogfight worthy of the best "furballs," Dan Dameo, in the American Airpower Museum F-4U Corsair, cleared the skies of attacking Kates and Vals.

Reading is more focused on a very specific time, so the mix of airplanes is relatively homogeneous and allows all the major types of the period to be present.

Collectors also found an incentive to join the Reading crowds. A big flea market catered to everybody's needs, including the most discriminating. People in period attire strolled, danced and socialized to the tunes of the times from a live radio station and orchestras on the field. Wherever your eyes focused, you were in 1943!

The WW II weekend is a show of a different flavor that caters to a wide range of interests. This year was a smashing success with 80,000 people in attendance, and 2002 promises to be even better. -Gilles Auliard and John Baert