It was clear almost all the way up, but became cloudy halfway between Chicago and Oshkosh.  The cloud deck below is not as bad as it looks in this picture.  There were always holes if I needed to descend.  The clouds completely cleared before I reached Oshkosh. Traffic at Oshkosh was surprisingly light.  It was my first trip to aviation Mecca, and I was hoping to have someone to follow.  I managed not to screw it up, and landed uneventfully on runway 9.  No picture of that.  I figured if I botched the landing and they were combing through the wreckage and found that I was taking pictures instead of flying the plane, it would be a bad thing.

 

The VIP treatment!  Land a show plane at Oshkosh, and you get an escort to your parking place.  They call the welcome wagon, which is a small truck with bench seats in the back.  The welcome wagon takes you wherever you want to go. Now if they could just keep the public from damaging the planes.  They're trying, and most people aren't a problem, but there are horror stories.  One guy stood his very young son on a P-51 Mustang wing so he could take a picture.  A mother allowed her 12-13 year old son to remove the exhaust cover from a nice homebuilt.  The kid was stopped just before he could pour his Coke into the engine. Total flying time from central Kentucky to central Wisconsin was a relaxing three hours and fifteen minutes, which corresponds to 170 miles per hour.

 

My LongEZ, grazing with the other canard aircraft at the 2001 Oshkosh Fly-In. I owe a really big thanks to Joe Kusy for building such a great plane.  I can't imagine a plane that's any more fun to fly.

 

Shanty Town, or Home Sweet Home I was fortunate enough to be adopted by Doug Hurd at the CSA picnic for canard airplane enthusiasts.  I must have looked lost. My tent is at the bottom left.  Doug is the guy in the dark shirt, munching on something in the dining tent.  Art and his wife are nearby.  Doug apparently adopts lots of folks.  Our camp was international, including a nice young Frenchman, and two Indians. There was a group of outlaw Cozy builders camped behind us.  They were in Kamp Kozy.

 

Despite the tent in the background, this is definitely not an upgraded Cessna SkyMaster.  The Adams M309 was at Oshkosh, sporting a new name.  The aviation market finally convinced Adams Aircraft that they couldn't keep calling it the M309, so named because it was the 309th design by Burt Rutan. Adams had a contest, merged their two favorite names and came up with the CarbonAero.  Sounds sort of Spanish. This is a six place, pressurized, inline twin engine aircraft.  It features high performance and single engine safety.  Adams is pursuing FAA certification and expects production in 2003.  Unlike most new general aviation startups, Adams is fully funded.

 

Bud Anderson (left) and Chuck Yeager (right). These guys are true American heroes, and seem to contradict the adage that "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." The stories they told were fantastic, and even more outrageous than the unbelievable acts of bravado that are common in modern action movies.  The difference is, their stories are true.  And they're great story tellers.  If you ever get the chance, see them at an Oshkosh forum.  On an entertainment scale of 1 to 10, they're each about a 12. And they're really nice guys.

 

Of course, there were lots of military planes.  What I know about military planes would rattle around in the bottom of a thimble, but if that's your thing, Oshkosh is the place. There were also lots of old warbirds and antique planes, as well as the full gamut of civil aviation planes from every era.  I was too busy to slow down long enough to see any of them. No regrets.  I saw what interested me the most.

 

This very nice Gee Bee was flying in the air show.  The husband flew the air show routine while the wife announced it on the PA system. I later read that this Gee Bee was leaving Oshkosh to fly in air shows in Europe and Japan, and then it was going to be retired to a museum. This is the plane that Jimmy Doolittle described as "a widowmaker" and "the most dangerous plane I've ever flown".  It was designed for racing, and is essentially a big engine with short wings and a small cockpit for the pilot.  It allegedly has a wicked aileron control reversal at low speed, and many pilots were killed landing the plane.  The secret trick is now believed to be, "land really fast".

 

The replica of the Vickers Vimy The original British Vimy was renown for long distance exploration, including early air trips from England to Egypt and Australia. This flying replica was supposed to be at Oshkosh last year, but had some last minute mechanical problems and couldn't make it.  It almost didn't make it this year.  BMW built the custom engines and was so concerned with the potential legal liability issues in the US that they filed an injunction to prevent it from appearing at Oshkosh.  Fortunately, a judge lifted the injunction in time for the Vimy to fly to Oshkosh, where it was greeted by appreciative and enthusiastic crowds. In this picture, the Vimy was taxiing out to leave near the end of Oshkosh.

 

The Eclipse Jet A very pretty if somewhat conventional design for a small jet plane.  Nicely appointed, it sells for $837,000.  They're accepting $37,000 deposits while working toward FAA certification. I liked the prototype better.  The production model uses not enough composite and too much aluminum for my tastes.  But if they were giving them away, I  wouldn't turn them down.

 

If Oshkosh is known for anything, it's innovative designs from homebuilders.  This is an unusual configuration.  The sign in front of this Canadian plane described it as a Multi Function Platform.  To me, it looked like a very futuristic sea plane.  I like the looks, but I have to wonder if it has flown.  The engine nacelle looks too small to contain a very large engine, and the plane has a lot of wetted surface area, which corresponds to drag.  If it flies, I'd bet it's a lot slower than it looks.  Still, speed isn't everything.  No, really, I'm serious.

 

Scott Crossfield also had some great stories to tell during his slide show.  He was an aeronautical engineer, and flew all of the research oriented X planes.  He was disappointed that the X-15 was retired from service, claiming it is the most capable plane for some missions, even today.  He also maintains that it was the most cost effective government research project ever. For a long time, Scott Crossfield was "The Fastest Man Alive". And he's a really nice guy, too.

 

There was a nonstop airshow for several hours every day.  Most of the airshow involved military jets or high powered piston aircraft performing acrobatic maneuvers that would scare any sane person.  Nowhere else on earth can you see such a continuous display of precision flying skill. I was too busy attending forums and seeing new products to watch the air show.  For me, it was more of a nuisance as the noise made it difficult to hear some of the forums.  But it's a huge part of the draw of Oshkosh.  Most people attend to see the amazing airshows. I slowed down long enough to snap this picture of some parachutes, which is admittedly a poor representation of the awesome daily airshow performances.

 

The people at the ultralight airstrip really know how to have fun.  They're sort of the wacky, almost illegitimate side of Oshkosh.  Almost totally unregulated by the FAA (lucky guys), they enjoy the freedom to fly purely for the enjoyment of it.  The focus is on low cost fun, which equates to flying low and slow.  In the mornings and evenings, the sky over the ultralight field is full of small planes.  It's not unusual to look up and count 13 ultralights, all very close together by certified airplane standards.  Despite their informal behavior, they seem to do a good job of promoting safety among themselves, and their accident rate is remarkably low. Powered parachutes such as the one shown in this picture are taking over the ultralight scene.  For as little as $7500, almost anyone can buy a powered parachute with a 2-stroke engine and do some fun flying.

 

I met Steve and Joe when I borrowed a mountain bike from Bob, a fellow camper, and rode to the ultralight area one evening.  Steve and Joe are from Chicago, and they are the classic "cool guys". I can attest to the fact that they were both a little too inebriated to be operating any motor vehicle, particularly a Go-Ped.  Those things are hard enough to ride sober.  It doesn't help that Steve is supposed to be driving, but is really watching an ultralight take off. This is actually fairly typical behavior in the ultralight area, and didn't draw any particular attention.  As I mentioned, people in the ultralight area are there to have fun.

 

Aussie Fashion Here is another image that didn't draw any particular attention in the ultralight area.  This guy was grilling a lot of brats in the ultralight camping area.  Originally from Australia, he and his wife (see below) were camping out in a motor home.  They have an Enstrom helicopter, but apparently drove to Oshkosh this year. There is no shortage of interesting people to meet at Oshkosh, especially at the ultralight area.

 

Aussie Fashion II On the left is the wife of Mr. Gold Lame' (above photo).  On the right is the woman camping in the adjacent motor home.  She brought their little black dog Bugsey, who loves to fly.  He is now bored by fixed wing flight and quickly goes to sleep, but he perks up and likes to look outside when flying in helicopters. I don't know what the deal was with the whip.  I wasn't encouraging that type of behavior.  In fact, I was gently trying to discourage it. They're really nice people.  Mostly harmless.  I think.

 

As I was making the long walk into Oshkosh to get a decent meal the last night, I snapped a picture of the EAA museum. Housed within are more planes and replicas than I could describe.  It'd take about a full day to go through all of it and give it justice.  I ran through briefly snapping pictures.  The original flying prototypes of many of the more significant homebuilt planes are on display.  A large part of the museum is designed to capture the imagination of kids and get them excited about aviation.