| Central Indiana Hams assist Public Safety at Air Show |
| Central Indiana Hams assist Public Safety at Air Show
Thirty (30) Central Indiana hams worked an accumulated 488 hours during the Aug 25-26 event, assisting Public Safety at the Indianapolis Air Show held at Mt. Comfort Airport . Saturday, Aug 25, was windy and wet as occasional showers blanketed Central Indiana. The air show was not held up by the weather, however, the crowd numbers were quite low. Sunday, Aug 26, was an entirely different day. With a light breeze in the air and no rain in sight, a nearly record one-day count of 70,000 plus spectators flocked to see the show. On this day, hot air balloons took aloft as did the ultra-light planes, buzzing the skies until the 11am show began. The air show ran from 11am through 5pm each day, and the radio volunteers were on site from 7am through 6pm each day. Hams assisted in searching for a few missing children during the weekend ... all being found within an hour or so of being discovered as lost. Hams also assisted in securing a landing zone for Life Line helicopter, which was called in to evacuate a victim to an unfortunate accident in the military reinactment area. Amateur radio operators from several counties made up the volunteer force, lead by Mike Palmer, N9FEB, ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Marion County, IN. Radio operators were stationed at the FAA Control Tower, main Announcer Booth, Information Tent (Lost Children area), Medical area, as well as with Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS Officials in the mobile command vehicle. Most of the volunteers walked assigned grid patterns on the watch for anything beneficial to Public Safety officials. Hams were also liasons to the Civil Air Patrol and Indiana Guard / Reserve groups whom were also assisting Public Safety. Michael R. Palmer, N9FEB
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