Are You Enjoying OSH?

[Alexb2000]

I just landed a couple of hours ago back from Osh. I decided to fly in and out of Green Bay, which worked out great for us. I stayed at the Aloft using points. Great hotel and no price gouging like the places closer to Osh. Driving in was an easy 45 min.

I was actually very encouraged by all the upbeat fans of aviation. People were polite and in a good mood. I didn't see any of the typical big crowd crap like you see at a ballgame.

One thing was clear you can see who is a mover and shaker and who is just going through the motions. Icon for example is a new comer, but always had a full tent and kept working the crowd. Good for them.

Sometimes reading these boards it gets really depressing with all the negativity and viciousness. After so much of it I start to believe this is what aviation has become. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people that just love aviation and having a good time.

Osh really gave me a lot of hope for GA, it was food for the soul.

 

[mnewb1]

I just landed a couple of hours ago back from Osh. I decided to fly in and out of Green Bay, which worked out great for us. I stayed at the Aloft using points. Great hotel and no price gouging like the places closer to Osh. Driving in was an easy 45 min.

I was actually very encouraged by all the upbeat fans of aviation. People were polite and in a good mood. I didn't see any of the typical big crowd crap like you see at a ballgame.

One thing was clear you can see who is a mover and shaker and who is just going through the motions. Icon for example is a new comer, but always had a full tent and kept working the crowd. Good for them.

Sometimes reading these boards it gets really depressing with all the negativity and viciousness. After so much of it I start to believe this is what aviation has become. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people that just love aviation and having a good time.

Osh really gave me a lot of hope for GA, it was food for the soul.

I feel revitalized every year after Oshkosh! This year was even more fun, now that I finally own an airplane window shopping in the Hangers took on a new dimension!

 

[weirdjim]

window shopping in the Hangers took on a new dimension!

Cool. I hope you found a lot of good clothes to wear.

Jim

 

[frfly172]

This was #8 in a row for me. Yes I still enjoyed it but some of the magic of years past is definitely gone. I'll probably not be back next year for #9, not because of any reasons of disappointment in what Oshkosh has morphed into, but because I need to save up my money for a trip to Alaska plans for 2016. That's going to be my next big bucket list thing to accomplish in my life's aviation adventure.

Did the Alaska trip this year and stopped at OSH on the way home. What better way to complete a great trip. Good luck on your Alaska trip in 2016 ,try for last week in June or first week in July for best weather.

 

[FredFenster]

What day is/was the busiest? I went on Saturday and after hearing on here that there was no room in camping and people were being diverted do other airports because it was so full, I was expecting the airfield would be literally packed with aircraft. Granted, there were still thousands there but areas like Vintage for example looked only 2/3rds full at best to me. It looked like even fewer than that around runway 9/27 when I was driving in off of highway 41.

Had a great time though, first time spending the whole day there and watching the airshow. My wife jumped about 3 feet in the air when they started setting off the explosions during the warbird part of the air show She liked it though. Wish I could have stayed for the night airshow but we had to get home. Maybe next year.

 

[cgrab]

I was there Friday evening to Thursday morning. The only benefit of getting there before Sunday was that I camped just across the street from the ultralight tower in the Vintage camping. Had a come any later I would have been in the south 40.

Airshows are great and the night show was really cool as were the Valdeze planes.

I had a good talk about insurance in the forum. Had attended two classes on engine management and leaning-used 8.2 on the way up and 6.9 g/hr on the way back so I did learn about leaning.

I got a cool bag from Continental but still don't like their diesel engine. Saw the Deltahawk Cirrus and listened to them promise "soon" again.

Placed an order with Spruce to get free shipping. Had the Headset Inc guy add ANR to my DC's for $250. Sounded great on the way home.

Talked to allot of folks about ADS-B and will spend the $6k in a year or two.

Met some nice folks in the camping area but at age 57 I need to be near a bathroom and not just have a gatorade bottle next to my bed.

The one big CON for me was the lack of wifi. I had to go to the EAA tent to get my email and I probably missed out on buying a used nose wheel because I couldn't get to the web for information. My departure weather brief (DUATS) was 15 hours old went I took off.

I'll go again but probably from Monday to Thursday and I'll sleep in the dorms.

 

[Jay Honeck]

We had a great time and it worked out well since we had a tent and we had the dorm.

The weather was cool and beautiful. Rainy as usual from what I hear, but not anything like Gulf coast rain.

I learned a lot and know what to take and what not to take next year. Can't wait. It's a blast. Made a lot of friends, talked about airplanes all week. It doesn't get much better.

"Gulf Coast rain"???

We saw more rain this week in OSH than we received on the island (in the Gulf) in two YEARS!

 

[Jay Honeck]

Yes, if you want to eat non-EAA food, the N 40 is the place to be.

Where do you park your bikes when you go to the show? Also, how do you even get your bikes into the plane?

There are ginormous bike racks at the entrance to the grounds. We park 'em there, and then walk directly into either Warbirds or Homebuilt. There's also a tram stop there, so if we are heading further South (to the Forums, exhibit buildings, etc) we just hop aboard. Its a great set up!

BTW: No one locks their bikes, and they are always there when we return.

Oshkosh is seemingly the last vestige of the America I grew up in.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I just landed a couple of hours ago back from Osh. I decided to fly in and out of Green Bay, which worked out great for us. I stayed at the Aloft using points. Great hotel and no price gouging like the places closer to Osh. Driving in was an easy 45 min.

I was actually very encouraged by all the upbeat fans of aviation. People were polite and in a good mood. I didn't see any of the typical big crowd crap like you see at a ballgame.

One thing was clear you can see who is a mover and shaker and who is just going through the motions. Icon for example is a new comer, but always had a full tent and kept working the crowd. Good for them.

Sometimes reading these boards it gets really depressing with all the negativity and viciousness. After so much of it I start to believe this is what aviation has become. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people that just love aviation and having a good time.

Osh really gave me a lot of hope for GA, it was food for the soul.

Judging aviation by news groups or forums like POA is always a mistake. Especially when it comes to aviation, places like this attract a depressing assortment of wannabees, kiwis (unwillingly flightless birds), and bureaucratic savants who would argue over just about anything.

If you want to see real aviation, with real pilots and real airplanes, it just doesn't get better than Oshkosh. It refreshes the soul, recharges the battery, and truly gets the aviation juices flowing again. With #32 in the books, Mary and I are already making plans for next year!

 

[txflyer]

"Gulf Coast rain"???

We saw more rain this week in OSH than we received on the island (in the Gulf) in two YEARS!

I was meaning the intensity of their rain. It was light rain and short lived. Not the heavy downpour in buckets for an hour or more like we can get here.

Anybody see that tornado I think it was the first Sunday?

 

[Jay Honeck]

I was meaning the intensity of their rain. It was light rain and short lived. Not the heavy downpour in buckets for an hour or more like we can get here.

Anybody see that tornado I think it was the first Sunday?

Over by Houston/Galveston, I agree. They seem to get pounded every day.

Our climate is more desert-like, and we are still in the throes of a terrible drought. We haven't seen a good downpour like you describe in years.

Texas is a very large state!

 

[Alexb2000]

I was meaning the intensity of their rain. It was light rain and short lived. Not the heavy downpour in buckets for an hour or more like we can get here.

Anybody see that tornado I think it was the first Sunday?

I flew around some storms coming in Thursday that would have banged me around like a box of rocks in Texas. The lack of intense heat makes a huge difference. Almost all IFR and raining both ways, either that or super hazy, flying up North in the summer is nice.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9025F/history/20140731/1811Z/KIRK/KGRB

 

[txflyer]

I flew around some storms coming in Thursday that would have banged me around like a box of rocks in Texas. The lack of intense heat makes a huge difference. Almost all IFR and raining both ways, either that or super hazy, flying up North in the summer is nice.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9025F/history/20140731/1811Z/KIRK/KGRB

Lot's of nimbus clouds up North without the cumulo is how I put it to my buddies.

Everywhere we went, there were clouds, and some of them were building, but not like the FL60 atomic mushrooms we get down here.

We were ~VFR the whole way if you know what I mean. We got stuck in Quincy overnight, low IFR, and got out of there the next day ~VFR if you know what I mean ... we had radar service the whole way. :wink2:

 

[txflyer]

Over by Houston/Galveston, I agree. They seem to get pounded every day.

Our climate is more desert-like, and we are still in the throes of a terrible drought. We haven't seen a good downpour like you describe in years.

Texas is a very large state!

Texas is big alright. Anywhere you fly, most of it is getting out of TX. The rest of the States pass by quick!

And I tip my hat to you sir. You were right about splitting it into two days.

We were forced down in Quincy with lowering action and then we couldn't get out and I was secretly glad. I could have flown that last 2:15 leg, but I was not looking forward to it. The next day I was feeling refreshed and the FISK was a breeze.

 

[Jay Honeck]

We were legitimately VFR both ways, as we are every year.

But, boy, is it nice to climb to FL 14.5, flip on the music and O2, and let Otto fly us above the afternoon buildups!

 

[txflyer]

Somebody up there played a cruel joke on me.

The pilot buddy of mine when we went to take off for OSH asked "you going to leave the auto pilot on?" He didn't like taking off with the power switch to it on so I turned it off and you can guess the rest of the story.

We ended up hand flying the whole trip.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

What day is/was the busiest? I went on Saturday and after hearing on here that there was no room in camping and people were being diverted do other airports because it was so full, I was expecting the airfield would be literally packed with aircraft. Granted, there were still thousands there but areas like Vintage for example looked only 2/3rds full at best to me. It looked like even fewer than that around runway 9/27 when I was driving in off of highway 41.

Generally, the busiest time is mid-week, around Tuesday or Wednesday. By Thursday, you have a fair number of early arrivals who are heading out, and the weekend is more locals/enthusiasts and fewer pilots, so what you describe is pretty normal.

This was my favorite Oshkosh ever - It was my 11th total, and 9th in a row where I've camped on field the whole week, IMO the only way to really get the full experience!

Notable things this year:

1) There were a TON of airplanes there! Not only were airplanes turned away for what I think was the first time in about 8 years, I walked down to the spot where vintage normally ends and there were 140 rows of airplanes remaining! I also saw quite a few planes further south than the seaplane base bus turnaround, which I have NEVER seen before. The arrival was so busy I had to break it off between Ripon and Fisk (well, that was partially thanks to a slow Bonanza in front of us) and start over, but it was packed... And when I got parked, I was way over next to the runway 23 threshold. REALLY glad to see people flying again!

2) The night airshow on Saturday was really excellent. Yes, the night airshow on Wednesday was good too, but it was fairly similar to what we've seen the last couple of years. The fireworks show at the end of the Saturday night airshow was truly spectacular, and rather than just a plain old wall of fire at the end, there were several other explosions set off first, so the big one was a surprise when it finally went off. AWESOME!

3) Mooney was back in force. They had only a single airplane present (a new Acclaim) but the Mooney tent was packed with not only Mooney reps and engineers but the Mooney Ambassadors, the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association, some well-known MSC's and you could vote between 10 possible paint schemes for future Mooneys to use (there was a giveaway involved too). Much bigger presence than I've seen from them for quite a while.

4) There may have been a slightly lower number of exhibitors, but the feeling of the show was very upbeat and there were people buying stuff.

And, of course, with all the people there, I got to see some folks that I hadn't seen in a while, and meet some new ones. The saying is true - We get to spend time with old friends, new friends, and friends we haven't met yet.

Can't wait for next year!

 

[Bill Watson]

...The arrival was so busy I had to break it off between Ripon and Fisk (well, that was partially thanks to a slow Bonanza in front of us) and start over, but it was packed...

Same thing happened to us. Wassup with the slow Bo's?

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Same thing happened to us. Wassup with the slow Bo's?

Well, they're probably driving their cars a lot slower these days too.

What were you in? There was a high-wing in front of me and behind the Bo. I bailed when all three of us were probably within 1/4 mile of each other. The Bo looked like it was white with some light blue/green and it had tip tanks.

 

[nddons]

Generally, the busiest time is mid-week, around Tuesday or Wednesday. By Thursday, you have a fair number of early arrivals who are heading out, and the weekend is more locals/enthusiasts and fewer pilots, so what you describe is pretty normal.



This was my favorite Oshkosh ever - It was my 11th total, and 9th in a row where I've camped on field the whole week, IMO the only way to really get the full experience!



Notable things this year:



1) There were a TON of airplanes there! Not only were airplanes turned away for what I think was the first time in about 8 years, I walked down to the spot where vintage normally ends and there were 140 rows of airplanes remaining! I also saw quite a few planes further south than the seaplane base bus turnaround, which I have NEVER seen before. The arrival was so busy I had to break it off between Ripon and Fisk (well, that was partially thanks to a slow Bonanza in front of us) and start over, but it was packed... And when I got parked, I was way over next to the runway 23 threshold. REALLY glad to see people flying again!



2) The night airshow on Saturday was really excellent. Yes, the night airshow on Wednesday was good too, but it was fairly similar to what we've seen the last couple of years. The fireworks show at the end of the Saturday night airshow was truly spectacular, and rather than just a plain old wall of fire at the end, there were several other explosions set off first, so the big one was a surprise when it finally went off. AWESOME!



3) Mooney was back in force. They had only a single airplane present (a new Acclaim) but the Mooney tent was packed with not only Mooney reps and engineers but the Mooney Ambassadors, the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association, some well-known MSC's and you could vote between 10 possible paint schemes for future Mooneys to use (there was a giveaway involved too). Much bigger presence than I've seen from them for quite a while.



4) There may have been a slightly lower number of exhibitors, but the feeling of the show was very upbeat and there were people buying stuff.



And, of course, with all the people there, I got to see some folks that I hadn't seen in a while, and meet some new ones. The saying is true - We get to spend time with old friends, new friends, and friends we haven't met yet.



Can't wait for next year!

Kent, I marshaled you at Bravo 2 when you arrived. Nice green dot landing. I guess you would have waived if you were still flying the 182, but now that you're a Mooney driver .....

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Kent, I marshaled you at Bravo 2 when you arrived. Nice green dot landing. I guess you would have waived if you were still flying the 182, but now that you're a Mooney driver .....

Hah! I thought I waved to everyone...

 

[Bill Watson]

Well, they're probably driving their cars a lot slower these days too.

What were you in? There was a high-wing in front of me and behind the Bo. I bailed when all three of us were probably within 1/4 mile of each other. The Bo looked like it was white with some light blue/green and it had tip tanks.

I was in a red & white RV10. On Sunday at Ripon I saw him coming up on my left and I thought I would be the lead. He was moving well enough that I decided to lag behind and let him go.

Then he slowed and stayed that way as we slowly crept up his tail at 85+knots. Despite my chunk blowing passenger I did a 360 and let a Cessna take my place but the same happened to the Cessna as we passed Fiske.

We were vectored for 36 as a storm came in from the NW. The Cessna bailed out to the south either because of the slow Bo' or the storm. I had to break radio discipline to let the ground spotters know the Cessna bailed as visibility worsened. They thanked me and said to follow the 2 Bo's on final (!!!!). Never saw either of them but landed as instructed.

On the ground people said the crosswind on 36 must have been vicious. Well it was right on my nose with plenty of shear. Things were shakin' and bakin' out there. Kind of fun once we got cleaned up.

I'd love to see some calibrated versus indicated airspeed for the Bonanzas. No aircraft is perfect in that regard. I believe that for certification purposes they determine calibrated speeds and then document the IAS for Vs, Vne, Vetc specific for that design.

I went searching and found these gems in Beechtalk:

"Is that (because) ASI in MPH not KNOTS? Despite being labled?"

...well that would do it! Then there's,

"We have had many post on BeechTalk about ASIs that are in error. When I read those posts, I immediately think they are reading higher than normal. This might mean that your plane is a couple of knots slower at cruise."

 

[flyingron]

The good part of Oshkosh this year:

1. Not too hot.
2. Finally made Jay's party for the first time in years.
3. The Thunderbirds were cool and the procedures in effect were not the "disaster" many were predicting.

The bad parts:

1. Basler seemed wholely uninterested in actually selling fuel.
2. Garmin's booth sucked badly. They spend more time trying to sell go-pro competetion than avionics. They also have some sexist louts working the booth who essentially without even an "excuse me" pushed my wife off the demo GTN unit she was evaluationg.
3. Torrential downpours around sunday's show.

 

[Sam D]

Can't wait for next year!

Me too! I get to go for the first time next year as our vacation week in Traverse City is different than the Osh week. So, I plan on flying out to both from CA and get a twofer.

Sam

 

[denverpilot]

Yes, if you want to eat non-EAA food, the N 40 is the place to be.

Or hike/ride over to Scholler and we'll make ya dinner. Oh my lord Grant and Leslie's jambalaya was GOOD this year !!! And everyone in Scholler overpacked on gear, food and alcohol. As usual.

Particularly enjoying the SOS Brothers Beer Tent at the end of each day ! Just set your course on the yellow balloon with the smiley face.

There's more than one person with a story about a drunk friend in Scholler who pointed and said, "Check out the huge full moon!"

Oshkosh is seemingly the last vestige of the America I grew up in.

Pretty much.

Kent, I marshaled you at Bravo 2 when you arrived. Nice green dot landing. I guess you would have waived if you were still flying the 182, but now that you're a Mooney driver .....

ROFL!!!

2. Garmin's booth sucked badly. They spend more time trying to sell go-pro competetion than avionics. They also have some sexist louts working the booth who essentially without even an "excuse me" pushed my wife off the demo GTN unit she was evaluationg.

I gotta admit I was quite unimpressed with Garmin's demo setups also. Entire areas set up to sell their stupid GoPro competitor camera and only a few active avionics demo units, all complete with sales weenie to jump in and start pushing buttons for you to hide things like "pinch/zoom not working yet".

Sadly, one of the must-do reasons for the trip was to evaluate IFR Certified GPS units and Garmin's new stuff gets the nod. Avidyne was completely annoying and non-intuitive, and Bendix-King's stupid joystick thing needs to be taken to the back 40 and shot in the head.

Garmin's touch-screen is brilliant. Really liked those. The Garmin sales guy did have an interesting note to share.

"Not much time on the 430/530, huh?" he quipped.

"Nope. How could you tell?"

"The 430/530 users always reach for the knob first and won't touch the screen. New Garmin users touch the screen and use the interface the way it was intended to be used. We built in both methods because we consistently saw that in testing."

I guess all that knob twisting builds a behavior pattern as does the CFI hollering not to touch the display. Haha.

Also tried on every ANR headset in sight.

Bose wins on my head. Second place for comfort was Sennheiser. Third was Lightspeed PFX and that interface box is huge.

The Lightspeeds consistently shoved the bridge of my glasses into my nose and kept pushing the whole time they were on my head. Bose didn't nor did Sennheiser.

Sennheiser couldn't be adjusted for height and the bar across the top never touched the top of my head.

Night airshow was amazing. The lighting inside the cowls of the radial engine birds is utterly gorgeous. The fireworks displays and pyrotechnics are worth the price of admission all by themselves. Never seen a display that big last that long or be so well choreographed to music.

T-Birds did their t-bird thing. Karen liked the Blues better, as do I.

First time out to the seaplane base. Super awesome. Made me grumpier that we can't land on bodies of water in Colorado.

IFR tent was way cool. Multiple flight sims and real ATC comms and plenty of CFIIs around if you wanted to log approaches. They did an awesome job setting that up.

Bendix/King new building is weird. I don't think they quite know what to do with it yet. Helicopter out front was nifty but only because it's a test aircraft and I found all their connectors and cables and had to ask the guy why there was a chunk of Cat 6 Ethernet cable sticking up out of the rear seat carpet. Heh.

Lamest airshow flight: T-6 Texan II demo. Coolest? Tie between Soucy and Franklin's night shows.

Only at OSH moment: waiting in safety briefing area for our first Tri-motor ride which was late enough in the day that we'd be up during the Airshow. Soucy doing his (loud) thing in the sky with the AgCat (my favorite routine - I love that big loud biplane)... I'm telling my wife that he's my favorite performer yadda, yadda, lady two feet away half says, half hollers, "Ok if my BROTHER IN LAW WOULD STOP MAKING SO MUCH NOISE... I'll give you all the required safety briefing and we'll be on our way!"

LOL! Love it. Love love love OSH.

Multiple screaming radials and Merlin's for an alarm clock every morning, pyro people blowing **** up every afternoon, airplanes everywhere you look whether on the ground or in the air, friends everywhere... Just isn't anything like it anywhere.

For those keeping score, the Nebraska curse struck again, but this time I was driving the Dodge 3500 which flipped Nebraska the bird and kept truckin' with the 12,500 lb trailer. Either have a water pump leak or a blown gasket. 2 gallons of 50/50 antifreeze mix poured in across Nebraska and half the turbo is covered in burnt on coolant, but Bubba made it home.

Everyone who walked by the trailer asked where I got the tires for the Honda 3000 generator. eBay. Dude out of Utah makes the metal bracket and throws in Harbor Freight tires and wheels.

Still have piles of video and pictures to plow through on the camera before posting...

 

[nddons]

Before Saturday's night airshow, I was working the Flightline at "the turn" which is the intersection of runway 36R/taxiway Alpha and runway 13/31, which is where the V-22 Osprey was parked. I was speaking to the Marine Captain who was piloting the thing, and he was a little bummed about doing the demo for the night show, because he thought their maneuvers would be too boring, they don't have many lights, etc.

I was also working with a USAF Reserve KC-135 pilot, and we came up with the brilliant idea that the Osprey just fire off some flares! The Marine crew got a good chuckle out of that, but thought the crowd line was probably a little too close for that.

 

[kimberlyanne546]

This is great, now everyone please come to the 51st Annual Reno Air Races.

Much smaller than oshkosh but a lot different.

I will be on a race crew again this year. We hold down biplanes (12 at a time with 3 crew members each) during the runup on the runway so that the pilot can rest his legs. Nothing like 200mph propwash in your face at 7am. Learned quickly to wear sensible shoes, a hair tie, and sunglasses. Seeing the 12 planes take off in a racehorse start is fun (waves / rows), but this year they will start them all at once. Exciting.

I have made some contacts in all six classes and hope to get out of my grease monkey mechanic role in the biplane hangar and into T6, JET, unlimited (think Sea Fury and P51), and of course Sport. I already know Formula One and Biplane people . . . . hoping to branch out.

In June, I helped with an F1 engine, and some biplanes. Last year, we pulled and replaced a prop, changed a tire, and did other maintenance. It was epic.

During the year, I have been working on my pilot's race plane and we recently pulled the oil gauge and will be testing the race canopy. His is a Pitts Special and this will be his 20th year at the races in the biplane class.

Please let me know if and when you will be stopping by!

 

[Jay Honeck]

This is great, now everyone please come to the 51st Annual Reno Air Races.

Much smaller than oshkosh but a lot different.

I will be on a race crew again this year. We hold down biplanes (12 at a time with 3 crew members each) during the runup on the runway so that the pilot can rest his legs. Nothing like 200mph propwash in your face at 7am. Learned quickly to wear sensible shoes, a hair tie, and sunglasses. Seeing the 12 planes take off in a racehorse start is fun (waves / rows), but this year they will start them all at once. Exciting.

I have made some contacts in all six classes and hope to get out of my grease monkey mechanic role in the biplane hangar and into T6, JET, unlimited (think Sea Fury and P51), and of course Sport. I already know Formula One and Biplane people . . . . hoping to branch out.

In June, I helped with an F1 engine, and some biplanes. Last year, we pulled and replaced a prop, changed a tire, and did other maintenance. It was epic.

During the year, I have been working on my pilot's race plane and we recently pulled the oil gauge and will be testing the race canopy. His is a Pitts Special and this will be his 20th year at the races in the biplane class.

Please let me know if and when you will be stopping by!

I will vouch for Reno. It is as unlike Oshkosh as possible -- the only common denominator is that both events have airplanes, and are held at an airport -- but, wow, is it cool!

If you've never been, imagine the Warbirds section at OSH. Add a pit area for mechanics. Take a regular Mustang, and soup it up to something approaching 3000 horsepower.

Now, we all know what a Merlin sounds like, after a week at OSH. You heard it three dozen times. At Reno, they don't sound like that. They sound like a woman screaming, as they ram nitrous, and spin the props above redline!

Almost every race someone blows an engine. A $500,000 engine. They don't just coast to the side of the race track -- they have to land -- NOW. It is very, very exciting to watch.

In fact, if you're a NASCAR fan, Reno makes NASCAR look like kiddie cars. One is going 200+, while the other is going almost 500!

And, of course, Kimberley is the bestest host, ever. If you can connect with her at the races, you are in like Flynn with all the cool people!

If I could afford it, I would go again this year. Sadly, I've already brought the innsitters to the island twice in 2014, and a third time ain't in the financial cards. But I will be watching from afar with great interest, and hope y'all can go!

 

[gprellwitz]

This is great, now everyone please come to the 51st Annual Reno Air Races.

Much smaller than oshkosh but a lot different.

I will be on a race crew again this year. We hold down biplanes (12 at a time with 3 crew members each) during the runup on the runway so that the pilot can rest his legs. Nothing like 200mph propwash in your face at 7am. Learned quickly to wear sensible shoes, a hair tie, and sunglasses. Seeing the 12 planes take off in a racehorse start is fun (waves / rows), but this year they will start them all at once. Exciting.

I have made some contacts in all six classes and hope to get out of my grease monkey mechanic role in the biplane hangar and into T6, JET, unlimited (think Sea Fury and P51), and of course Sport. I already know Formula One and Biplane people . . . . hoping to branch out.

In June, I helped with an F1 engine, and some biplanes. Last year, we pulled and replaced a prop, changed a tire, and did other maintenance. It was epic.

During the year, I have been working on my pilot's race plane and we recently pulled the oil gauge and will be testing the race canopy. His is a Pitts Special and this will be his 20th year at the races in the biplane class.

Please let me know if and when you will be stopping by!

Wow Kimberly, I hope you're logging all that time for your A&P!