1931 Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogyro
In 1992, I was a pilot stationed at McGuire AFB in New Jersey. My wife and I attended a great airshow at Willow Grove Naval Air Station in June of 1992. There were a lot of great displays, both static and aerial, but one of the most striking was a flying display of a 1931 Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogyro painted in the colors of Miss Champion. I believe this is the PCA-2 that was acquired by the Experimental Aircraft Association and is now in the EAA Museum.
Aerial displays at airshows were a problem for my photographic skills and equipment at the time. I had a manual telephoto lens that required me to set the focus, aperture, and shutter speed by hand. Doing this during a fast-moving flying display would have been easy if I had three hands, but alas, I had only two. I am in the process of digitizing several decades of photos, so I keep coming across photos from airshows and museums that are pretty cool. I will continue to post photos that you might find interesting as they turn up.
11 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Craig Abrahamson said on November 4, 2018
Never have seen one fly...must have been quite a sight! 🙂
Robert Royes said on November 4, 2018
Nice! Here it is in 1998 at Willow Grove, Did my last Navy Reserve gig there with VR-52.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
George R Blair Jr said on November 4, 2018
Thanks for posting the more recent photo. I retired from the Air Force in 1993 and left McGuire, so this was the last airshow at Willow Grove I was able to attend. It was a huge airshow and had more flying displays than you usually see at an airshow. Info on the EAA website says that Miss Champion became a part of their museum in 2005.
Jeff Bailey said on November 4, 2018
This is wonderful! I'd love to see one actually fly! Thanks for sharing your great memories and photos, George - and Robert, too.