May 9, 2026 - Massey Chili-Fiesta Fly-In

Three of us are headed out this morning.  Destination:  the 22nd Massey Chili-Fiesta Fly-In!

It's Chuck in his new (old) Comanche, Brian in his RV-8 and grandson Griffin and I in the RV-7.

The weather is OK.  There's some wind but its pretty much down the runway.  The forecast calls for light showers in the afternoon but the fly-in is 10-2 so it shouldn't be a factor.

And most importantly, the White Bean Chicken Chili Lynnette made is in the back of the RV-7.
   
Chuck taxiis onto runway 16.
   
Twenty minutes of so we're turning downwind for runway 20 at Massey.  It's around 10:30.  There aren't too many planes down there.
   
A new hangar has gone up since the last time I was here.  It's for the Massey Air Museum.
   
Looking into the new hangar from the other side.
   
One of my favorite planes of the fly-in.  I don't know what kind this open cockpit, two-seater is but it looks like fun.
   
Nice little panel.
   
Always one of my favorite planes, the big round nosed Cessna 195.
   
Griffin standing in front of a big North American Navion.
   
One of the classics:  a Piper Super Cub.
   
Bright green and black Waco.
   
The mighty North American T-28.
   
This particular aircraft was acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1955.  It spent its first three years in Pensacola for student pilot training, then was out in North Island, San Diego.  It was actually based at Moffett Field, California for a month in 1961.  Then it went back to the Pensacola area for student pilot training.  It transferred to Norfolk in 1971 where it was used for individual pilot proficiency training.  In 1976 it went to the boneyard in Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona.  In 1978 it was stricken from the Navy's inventory.  The T-28 sat in the desert at Davis-Monthan AFB until 2017 when it was purchased by private owners who ene engine and fuselage restored.  And now it is based at Chorman Airport, Delaware and flying to Massey Aerodrome!
   
Our RV's are parked on the grassy knoll's slope.
   
Mugsy is in the house!
   
Chuck's Comanche on the left.
   
Chip, Amy and two friends arrive in the Chickenhawk.
   
The White and Dark Blue RV-8 is based out of Chesapeake Ranch Airport (MD50), a private airport community near Patuxent River.
   
 
   
Inside, I show Griffin the historic Wright Whirlwind J-5 radial engine.
   
The engine that powered the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic Ocean nonstop.
   
The Essex Skyparkians at lunch.  Not pictured:  Mugsy and Brian.
   
Three more RVs showed up while we ate lunch.
 
The fly-in's turnout was disappointing.  I counted about 25 planes total, a far cry from what I have seen in the past.  Almost a third of the fly-ins were RVs.  Essex Skyparkians were well represented as well, with five plans, about 20%.
   
I guess winds were the reason for the low turnout.  But the wind was only 10-20 degrees offset from runway 20, if that.
 
Could it be high prices for avgas, parts, supplies, insurance and hangars are finally affecting the amount of flying?  The pilot population aging out?  Who knows?
   
The official fly-in photographer Dennis Maroulas on the other side of the field doing his thing.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
After lunch, people started bugging out.  Here, Amy taxiis the Chickenhawk out.
   
The Chickenhawk starts the takeoff roll.
   
Chuck taxiis out in the Comanche.
   
There goes the Comanche.
   
The big T-28 taxiis out.
   
Brian took off and come around for the obligatory RV low pass, with smoke.   The crowd on the grassy knoll loved it.
   
Smoke lingered well after Brian roared by.
   
Another Essex Skypark airplane, Mike B. and his Bonanza, arrives late.  But plenty of food still remains.  Maybe not the white bean chicken chili which was all eaten up.
   
The T-28 is on the roll!
   
The T-28 making a low pass.
   
The T-28 looks even better in the air, doesn't it?
   
The three RVs take off and fly overhead.
   
Dennis Maroulas always is on hand at the Massey fly-ins to take great photos of attending planes.  He took this shot of Brian making a low pass before heading back to Essex Skypark.
   
Big, beautiful, Cessna 195, departing.  Photo by Dennis Maroulas.
   
Mugsy, departing.  Photo by Dennis Maroulas.
   
The Chickenhawk lumbers into the air.  Photo by Dennis Maroulas.
   
A motorglider claws for the dark, cloudy skies.  Photo by Dennis Maroulas.
   
Yours truly making a low pass, with smoke, at Massey.  I feel like I owe it to the grassy knoll spectators.  Photo by Dennis Maroulas.
   
Close-up.   The RV is putting out some nice smoke thanks to newly cleaned injectors.
   
The three RVs take off and fly overhead.
   
Griffin did some airwork -- figure eights -- before we headed back to the Skypark..
   
 
   
The last thing we did was fly by what's left of the Key Bridge.  After more than two years, not much has been done.  The State of Maryland just fired the primary contractor.  What a fiasco. 
   
 
   
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