As the icy grips of winter begin to envelop the Northeast, I’ve been reflecting on some of the fun flights and gorgeous sights I got to experience. Some centered one even in particular, the EAA Chapter 855 Poker Run.

I won’t spoil the video, but with everything 2020 brought us (and took away), it was great to at least have one good aviation event to look forward to. If you’re new to the concept of a poker run, participants travel between up to 5 set locations, drawing a playing card from each one. Best hand at the end of the day wins.

What do you win? Well that depends on the particular event. In our case, the lucky player got 50% of the proceeds with EAA Chapter 855 getting the rest. Best of all, it was a good reason to get out there and fly with our fellow pilots.

The airports for this event were:

• Slatington 69N
• Quakertown UKT
• Deck 9D4
• Schuylkill County/ Joe Zerby ZER

Jake Arner, Lehighton 22N was originally a planned stop, however the repaving project this year forced us to draw 2 cards at Slatington.

It was great to see the variety of airplanes as well. Certified Cessna, Beechcraft, Grumman and Mooney examples littered the ramp. Meanwhile some Experimentals joined the mix including a Vans RV and Osprey GP-4. However, nobody expected a Guimbal helicopter to attend, but we all loved seeing it and it’s crew.

The chapter plans on doing another one in 2021. I know I’m looking forward to it.

This was a welcome break from my ongoing Sonex Rehab project as well.

How’d I get all that sweet flying and time lapse B-Roll for the Poker Run video?

How’d I get all that sweet flying and time lapse B-Roll for the Poker Run video?

A Rans S-7, my own two feet and the very capable GoPro Hero 8 Black.

I knew I needed some B-Roll for the video to really set it off. I had purchased the GoPro a few months earlier, but really hadn’t done much with it. This event was it’s opportunity to shine! It came with me to deal cards in Quakertown where I got to experiment with it in between cards.

I was back at the airport one morning after the event getting more footage when Chapter President Gene showed up to prep is homebuilt Rans S7 Courier. A lunch flight with his wife was on the docket today, but he offered to take me up for a bit beforehand to get a different perspective.

And here’s the best of what I got:

“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.”

Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing