Another fabulous day and night at Oshkosh. But is there any other kind?
The day started out with official pictures in the EAA Museum with the four General Aviation Award winners in front of the new plaque that lists all of the past and current winners. Then there were the unofficial pictures. I’ve chosen to post one of those, which in this case shows a son and his proud mother. Mom took flying lessons as a teen, though never followed the footsteps of her father and older brother who completed their private licenses. So naturally it was mom who used to drive me to the airport at age 15, before I had a driver’s license, so that I could take flying lessons. I’m proud of you too mom and thanks for coming to share in the fun with me at Oshkosh this week.
Our awards also included…
two rides in a Bell 47 helicopter. My wife deferred on the ride so that my aviation-loving mother could join me. We waited in line for nearly 2 hours and it was worth the wait. Normally they have three birds flying but today there were only two, so things took longer.
We strapped in, took off and flew over the grounds of AirVenture at 400 feet. I barely looked up from my camera as I continually clicked away. Like the control tower yesterday, the view from the helicopter was fantastic. I highly recommend the ride to anyone interested in a bird’s eye view of AirVenture and here’s a hint. The line is shortest from 8 to 9 AM and 6 to 8 PM.
On the drive to Appleton about 2 PM to take family members to the airport for flights home, I drove threw one of the worst thunderstorms I’ve ever been in. Fortunately, it passed 15 miles north of Oshkosh, otherwise it might have wrecked havoc at AirVenture. As we approached the lightning, we encountered a torrent of rain. At the point where I suddenly lost sight of the front of my own car, I pulled over. Virtually every car on the 4-lane highway did the same. Then came the hail, which sounded like the pounding of hundreds of hammers on the car. Both my mother and I thought at the time that the windshield would be cracked, but neither of us mentioned it then. Fortunately the hail, which was about grape size, ended and there was no damage to the car. The temperature dropped instantly from 81 to 64 degrees and we enjoyed the cool temperatures for a few minutes.
Late afternoon found me returning to Oshkosh, where I had my first unscheduled hour of the week. Most of the exhibits were closed, so I wandered up to AeroShell Plaza to check out the planes. The Dreamlifter, which dominated the square early in the week, had been replaced by a KC-10 tanker. I’d toured one of these at Travis Air Force base 7 or 8 years ago, and it was fun looking up at the massive boom and the boom operator’s window.
Next, it was over to check out the Marine Corp’s V22 Osprey Tiltrotor. It’s great to see this aircraft in production and operational, as it was under development for over 30 years! It was well known when I attended college in the Philadelphia area that Boeing Vertol was developing this plane at the time. I don’t think anyone guessed it would take that long; if they had, I’m sure the plane would have been cancelled long ago.
I talked to one of the proud crew members who explained that each engine produces 6,150 shp, it carries 24 fully loaded Marines (which means each is carrying more than 100 pounds of gear!) and that it’s official cruise speed is 280 knots. If it were a civilian airplane, it would most likely fly slower than its official speed. Since it is a military plane, I suspect it actually flies faster!
The EAA President’s BBQ was my last official duty and it was, like everything else, great fun. President Tom Poberezny thanked the 6,000 volunteers that make AirVenture possible. He also let us know that so far, attendance is ahead of last year, which was a record year. That’s gratifying as there had been wide speculation that high gas prices and the economy might keep many people home this year. He also mentioned that during the week, over 22,000 children participated in the KidVenture exhibit.
At dinner I sat next to the Klapmeiers and had great fun swapping stories. It was interesting to learn that Alan and Dale went off by themselves to attend their first AirVenture as teenagers 32 years ago. I bet they haven’t missed many since then.
Oshkosh by Night
As darkness fell, I was headed to my car, but instinctively passed it and headed toward the main gate instead to reenter the show. It was also the first time that I noted that the sign refers to AirVenture as the World’s Greatest Aviation “Celebration.” Nothing could be more accurate.
While the crowds and exhibitors own AirVenture by day, I often feel that I own it at night. Not camping at the show this year, this was the first chance I’d had to pursue my traditional nocturnal travels of the flight line. As beautiful as the planes are by day, they’re even more majestic at night. I wish I could wax as eloquently as an Antoine de Saint-Exupery or a more contemporary Lane Wallace and describe the bond I feel with the planes at night. It is a magical feeling that comes after the high temperatures and the crowds have melted away and the planes beckon me to join them and revel in the cool night air.
Bathed in a single bank of lights, the KC-10 seems even more like a lumbering Leviathan looming in the darkness. Next to it, the Osprey tiltrotor seems to know that it’s an awkward, out of place creature, surrounded by larger, fixed wing aircraft, yet it stands proud.
A few paces away, history is barely visible in the darkness. Paul 1, a P-51 Mustang, is painted with the pilot’s name Col. Paul H. Poberezny. Beyond it, a Ford Trimotor sits in immaculate condition. I couldn’t resist running my fingers along the corrugated aluminum that give the wings their unique look. At night, the planes almost call out for you to touch them and I don’t let them down. A hundred years from now, I know a future generation of airplane aficionados will do the same.
Walking the flight line at night, I feel that anything is possible. I briefly wondered whether Dave or Alan or other aircraft designers found inspiration walking here in the darkness.
Wandering further, I came across one of the trademark Volkswagens that make up the fleet patroling AirVenture and carrying out official missions. I struck up a conversation with its driver Emory, who co-chairs the flight line security detail. It is his 26th year of volunteering at Oshkosh. A school administrator in Illinois, he chooses to spend two and a half weeks of his vacation time here each year. The first week is spent preparing for the show and the last few days are spent debriefing after the show to capture lessons learned for next year. When his son was younger, he initially brought him to AirVenture to camp for one night, gradually increasing the number of nights over the years. Now 17 and a rising senior in high school, his son joins him on evening patrols.
Tonight is a particularly active night I’m told, which turns out to be prophetic in multiple ways, one of which I won’t learn about until the next day. Among other things, John Travolta will be departing in his 707. Earlier, as darkness fell, John introduced his movie, Broken Arrow, at the outdoor movie theater. I learned he wanted to depart by 10PM to return to his home in Florida, so I lingered along the flight line.
Soon we saw the lights of an EAA lead car, dwarfed by the 707 behind it, at the opposite end of the field. At 9:55 PM, with a 6 knot tailwind, the plane began its takeoff roll, departing to the south on runway 18. Half way down the runway, a ball of fire shot out of an engine and we heard the other engines throttle back as the take off was aborted. I’ve since heard that 707’s are particularly susceptible to compressor stalls when taking off with a tailwind and that’s apparently what we witnessed.
A parade of vehicles raced to join the jet and soon the 707 returned to the other end of the runway, where we were told it would make another takeoff attempt. This time, John and his crew locked the brakes and ran up the engines before starting the takeoff roll. It departed without incident and I started back to my car.
Along the way, I heard the Lt. Dan Band, named for a character in the movie Forrest Gump, playing in the Theater in the Woods, and the sounds of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to be Wild reached me from another direction. From my car, I could just make out John Travolta crashing his stealth bomber on the big outdoor movie screen. It was an odd juxtaposition to the aborted takeoff I’d just seen. But somehow it fit with the wonder that comes with owning the night.