If you’re of a certain age, you may remember a classic 1978 episode of “WKRP in Cincinnati” that featured the radio station’s Thanksgiving promotion of dropping turkeys from a helicopter into a shopping center parking lot.
The only problem was that domestic turkeys can’t fly.
The ensuing chaos, with birds plummeting from the sky was breathlessly reported, a la the Hindenburg disaster, by intrepid newsman Les Nessman, played by Richard Sanders.
One of the soft foam turkeys that will dropped by a helicopter on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos in 2022. The stunt is a tribute to a famed 1978 episode of “WKRP in Cincinnati.” (Photo courtesy Hiller Aviation Museum)
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With that inspiration and one significant difference, the team at the Hiller Aviation Museum has been recreating the stunt the past few years and will do so again Wednesday morning. The Hiller version is a lot more fun — with no feathered carnage to be had.
Instead of live birds, about 500 little foam turkeys will be tossed from a helicopter to the ground around the San Carlos museum at 11 a.m.
Kids — and adults — are welcome to take home the squeezable fowl as a memento, and there’ll also be a turkey hunt inside the museum. Tickets are required, and you can get more information at hiller.org.
