The Dawn Patrol Rendezvous has been running since 1996. It started out with about 8 full-sized aircraft and 15 R/C pilots. It runs every 2 years, but for 2002 it was skipped so that the "Centennial of Manned Flight" could be celebrated in 2003.
Dean Lukover from Texas, has been running the R/C side of the event since it started.
The number of R/C pilots and the size & quality of their aircraft has grown. We now have over 65 R/C pilots attend each event and they bring with them over 100 scale aircraft. The "Normal" size of most of these aircraft is 1/4 scale and many of these modelers are building 1/3 scale aircraft for future events. Some of those attending are World Class builders, so the quality is outstanding.
Originally, the event was held on the front area of the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. In 2005 the Dawn Patrol moved to the back area as the event had grown and needed more space.
When the event was started, Dean became involved with the event in March of 1996 while he was President of the local Dayton R/C model club. Dean contacted the museum as he wanted to arrange a "Behind the Scenes Tour" of the restoration area on a Saturday. As this tour is normally run Monday-Friday he needed to arrange a special off-hours tour. The person he spoke with, Tracey Lacy, agreed to his request if Dean would run the R/C side of a new event they were setting up in July of that year. It coincided with the "Dayton Air Show" and a shuttle would run spectators between the two events.
Once the Dawn Patrol got established, the museum set their dates to be in the Fall. It normally takes about 18 months of planning, meetings by phone, email and in person to arrange one of these events. During this time Dean puts in over 200 man hours in preparation alone. There are now 4 groups of participants in the event. They consist of the full-sized aircraft, R/C scale modelers, re-enactors and the period vehicles.
One nice feature for the full scale pilots is the rank classification. For each year the full scale pilots participate, they are promoted to the next rank in the dinner ceremony on Saturday night. If you have not attended one of these banquest, you are missing a real show. The entertainment is always outstanding and the festivities are funny and rewarding.
The next Dayton event is scheduled for the Fall of 2007. Check back to this web site for possible shows in other areas of the country.
