Bigfoot Fly-In becomes Clow Taxi-In

        Article and Pictures by Evan Wright

Sunday 6/24 was supposed to be the fly-in to Bigfoot. Barry and Christine, Mick and Jude, Vance and Tim, Brian, and I all met at Clow anticipating wheels up at 8:30. The forecast had been for a clear day with temps in the 80’s, but what he had was 300 – 500 ft. ceilings and 3 miles visibility. The forecast time for improvement came and went, so we all ended up taxiing over to Charlie’s for breakfast.

After breakfast, we hung around outside the FBO, sneaking in every few minutes to check the METARs, which became a metaphor for pilfering munchkins off the front desk. On the ramp, in addition to our planes, was a red Comanche. I walked over to check it out. On the cowl, I noticed the Flying Tiger insignia, and cartoon of a pilot in a wheel chair. Then it hit me. I had recently read a book about the Flying Tigers, and after they left china, one pilot was paralyzed in a training accident but managed to fly around the world in a modified light plane. Sure enough, this was the plane. Its former owner, Don Rodewald passed away in 2005 and it's possible the plane's being at Clow had something to do with the museum. Anyway, here’s what Daniel Ford’s book about the Flying Tigers said on p. 383:

…including Don Rodewald, who lost the use of his legs when he crashed an air force trainer, but was not grounded by that. In 1985, Rode flew a small plane alone around the world, regretting only that the Burmese authorities did not permit him to land at Mingaladon airport.

Before calling it a day, Vance and Tim, Brian and I went up in our respective aircraft, just to prove to ourselves that the weather was unsuitable for a cross country flight. It was still a no-go. No worse for wear, we all packed in it and went home.