What's Better Than A Total Solar Eclipse? A Total Solar Eclipse With Airplanes!

By Tom Patton, ANN News Editor

Sometimes, life tosses you an opportunity that you just have to take. Such was the case when a good friend of mine in the RC community said he and his wife were heading up to Triple Tree Aerodrome near Woodruff, SC for the total solar eclipse on August 21, and my wife and I should join them. I'm thrilled we did.

Triple Tree Aerodrome (SC00) is one of those magical places that make us want to fly. Over 7,000 feet of immaculately-maintained grass runway are nestled in the woods of northern South Carolina. The facility is the vision of Pat Hartness, who, according to the Aerodrome website, carved it from a bare field and transformed it into a first-class aviation facility. While it has the feel of having been there forever, ground was first broken on the runway and lake at the private airport in 2000. Since then, Pat and a team of dedicated volunteers have built a hangar, workshop and education center, and multiple gazebos and shower facilities. A surplus 1940s vintage tower serves as the control tower during events throughout the year. Those events include the Joe Nall Week RC aircraft fly-in, scheduled next year for May 12-19. My RC friends tell me it is quickly becoming one of the must-attend events among the model aircraft community.

Along with the runway and camping facilities, Hartness has overseen the construction of a learning center with an auditorium and flight simulator room with multiple stations that include RC and drone simulations.

Serendipity put this place in the path of the total eclipse, and Hartness and his Board of Directors determined that they wanted to make it a special event for the flying community. The non-profit organization decided to waive its normal camping fees for non-premium sites, taking only donations for those campsites and drive-in visitors not lucky enough to get to fly in for the event.

On Sunday, the airplanes started to arrive for the eclipse event. A steady stream of aircraft of all shapes and sizes overflew the tower and set up to land on the grass. A dedicated group of volunteers guided the aircraft down into a wooded camping area, where a tent city quickly grew out of the ground. Others were parked, and campsites established, along the RC airplane runway, and in another open area near the main taxiway. And while all this work was being done by volunteers, safety was obviously the absolute top priority for everyone involved.

Through the day and into the evening, we walked among the campsites, chatted with the owners about their airplanes, and experience the kind of camaraderie that only such an event offers.

As more aircraft arrived, they were parked in rows along Runway 3/21. By the time the moon eclipsed the sun on Monday, the field was the temporary home to everything from single-place weight-shift trikes to a DC-3 that landed only about an hour before the eclipse began. Organizers said they had 350 aircraft register for the event. Aircraft continued to land as the moon carved away at the sun, with one landing even as the sun blinked out, and darkness fell at mid-afternoon.

As the day grew darker, people began looking up at the sun through eclipse glasses they had either brought with them or had been provided at check-in. The daylight began to take on the qualities that photographers call "the golden hour", shadows became better defined, and the anticipation grew. Then, at about 2:43, the moon's disk completely covered the sun. A cheer went up from the crowd at the airport. and from a personal perspective, the view of the sun's corona seen with the naked eye was simply awe-inspiring. For a little more than two minutes, day became night. And just that quickly, it was daylight again.

The eclipse was certainly a special event for everyone who witnessed it, particularly where they were able to experience totality. But for my money, if there is one way to give such an event even more meaning, add a whole lot of airplanes and 400-500 pilots, aviation enthusiasts and their families into the mix.

The welcome we received at Triple Tree Aerodrome was nothing short of feeling like family. Triple Tree Aerodrome is a 501(c)3, non-profit, educational entity with a stated mission to "Ignite and Expand the Passion for Aviation." From my first, but hopefully not my last visit, I'd say they're well on their way to accomplishing that goal.

(Staff images)

FMI: www.tripletreeaerodrome.com