“Our big goal is to get youngsters involved in aviation,” Dennis says. To that end, a B-25 Mitchell and TBM Avenger were on hand, and kids were allowed to tour them, sit in the cockpits, and even go up for flights.My goals going into the event were not lofty. Number one: Don’t fall out of the plane. Number two: See number one. I don’t think anyone’s goals were any grander than mine. As I waited in the hangar at St. Charles County Flying Service, I overheard one pumpkin bombardier say, “Just don’t hit your car and everything’s good.” Another pumpkin bombardier, Bob Becker, tried to find the best pilot to guide him into position so he could drop his pumpkin onto the X. He thoroughly grilled candidates, by which I mean he asked each of them: “Do you have a sense of humor?” One pilot cracked back, “I lost my funny bone years ago. It was an unfortunate pool accident.” Bob owned a demolition company for decades and is known as Becker the Wrecker. He was as delightful to talk to as you would guess someone with that nickname who enters pumpkin-dropping contests would be. His wife, Naomi, bought him a spot in this competition as a birthday present. “What do you do for a 67-year-old guy these days?” Bob says. “You’ve got to do something fun.” Back in the plane, I wondered when I should drop fall’s great orb. I have two friends who are fighter pilots, and both told me to drop the pumpkin earlier than I think I should. I did that … and missed by a ton. I dropped way, way too early. Then again, only six of the competitors hit the target, which was a 50-foot circle surrounding the X. We tied for last with 45 teams. “It’s strictly luck,” says Dennis Bampton, the owner of St. Charles Flying Service, which hosts the event. “We’ve had guys try to figure it out, using calculators and stuff. Get out of here. There’s no way.” Put another way: If you enter a contest in which you drop a pumpkin out of an airplane and care where it lands, you’re doing it wrong. Even if my pumpkin had landed halfway across Illinois, I still would have worn that big dopey grin all day.
