SNOOPY AND THE RED BARON
Photo provided by David P. Anderson | www.mnbigbirds.com
IN THE MID-1970S, David P. Anderson (Minneapolis, Minnesota) was a member of the Blue Eagles, an RC model airplane air show team. “We were all members of the Twin City Radio Controllers RC club in Minneapolis. Sometimes, our little team was included in full-scale air shows that were then popular at Minnesota airports,” he wrote.
David continued, “One of the acts was a battle between Snoopy and the Red Baron. As we stood next to a UNICOM operator (a type of air traffic controller) beside the runway, Jim Miller’s Snoopy RC Doghouse (built from Al Signorino plans) took off and paraded in front of the audience while the loudspeakers played a popular song about Snoopy and ‘The Bloody Red Baron from Germany.’
“Meanwhile, I quietly launched my Hatz biplane slightly out of sight at the far end of the runway. At the appropriate point in the music, my red airplane swooped down on Snoopy and we engaged in an aerial dog fight, looping and rolling together in simulated battle. Eventually, Snoopy was victorious, so I put my biplane into a spin and landed out of sight, while Snoopy continued to show off in front of the crowd.
“The Navy’s Blue Angels were scheduled to follow our performance. The UNICOM operator told us that the Blue Angels were a few minutes away, so to have Snoopy take another victory lap before landing. When the Blue Angels finally appeared on the horizon, the UNICOM operator calmly said, ‘Snoopy cleared to land.’
“During the show, I met the famous Hollywood air show Super Chipmunk pilot Art Scholl and I asked him to autograph my program. Later, after our performances were complete and I was pulling my model by the tail back to my car, a little boy ran up to me and asked me to autograph his program. As I fantasized about being famous like Art Scholl, I proudly signed my name, followed by ‘The Red Baron.’”
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