Pumpkin Drop a smashing success

Nov. 07--WATSONVILLE -- People can learn to fly. Pumpkins can't.

That was the message, basically, for Sunday's annual Pumpkin Drop at Watsonville Municipal Airport.

The event is geared to highlight the joys of flying and allows people a free flight in a small plane to hoist that old pumpkin out the window toward a target near the runway below.

Santa Cruz Flying Club and Ocean Air Flight Services teamed up to host the annual event, using gourds as awareness-raising gadgets in a tradition for the weekend after Halloween that was started by the club more than 10 years ago, organizers said.

And while none of the pumpkin tossers hit the bull's eye -- a trash bucket centered on a bright blue 5-foot by 5-foot tarp -- it was all about the fun of being up in the air, organizers said.

"It's for fun, and to get people involved," said Dan Dawson, a Scotts Valley web designer and Santa Cruz Flying Club board member. "A lot of people want to learn how to fly or are interested, but are unsure how to get started. We've had fences around the airport since 9/11 and we want to make sure people feel welcome.

"My favorite thing is getting kids up in the air. Then they start dreaming about aviation."

A group of about 30 people stood outside Ocean Air Sunday, huddled a bit against intermittent rain, waiting for a turn in a small plane that would take them for a pumpkin pass from about 200 feet in the air.

Ocean Airways was using three of their

Tecnam Light Sport Aircraft planes, plus a Cessna 172. The Light Sport Aircraft are economical to fly and require less instruction to become certified, said Gryphon McArthur, general manager of Ocean Air. Pilots in other aircraft pitched in as well, he said.

John Morris of Santa Cruz was one of the first to return from his high-flying toss, and came out of a four-person Cessna 172 Sky Hawk with a beaming smile, exhilarated. He said he didn't really think he'd hit the bucket, as the wind made it hard to get the pumpkin out the window.

"It was a thrill. It couldn't have been more fun," said Morris, a 56-year-old builder.

Morris said he and his son, Evan, came out "for the sheer goofiness of the event."

Another pumpkin-throwing participant, Joyce Evangelista, said she lives near the airport and sees the planes often.

"I've been wanting to come out forever," said Evangelista, 58, who works at the Live Oak Child Development Center. "I thought it would be a thrill, and it was."

Evangelista said she was considering Ocean Air's $75 introductory flight offer for those considering flight lessons.

Kryss Crocker of Aptos came to the event with her husband, Andrew, and their children, 11-year-old Bryce and 3-year-old Shiloh.

Crocker said she learned to fly at Watsonville Municipal Airport about five years ago, and that the family rents a flight instructor's plane to go out whale watching or on other short flights.

Bryce clutched his pumpkin, ready to have a shot at it.

"It's so cool just to drop a pumpkin out of a plane and watch it go kersplat,' " he said.

Indeed.

McArthur said Sunday's event was one of the most well-attended ever.

"This was the most successful pumpkin drops in many, many years," he said. "The more people we can expose to the enjoyment of aviation, the better."

The event also included a barbecue and live music by Santa Cruz singer and songwriter Katie Ekin.

Copyright 2011 - Santa Cruz Sentinel, Calif.