Warbird Information Exchange

Dan...been at the thesaurus again have we
Your fervor and verbosity notwithstanding, neither Mrs. Mudge nor I care to be jostled through the herds of people who, reportedly attend Oshkosh. Every "crowd" scene from Oshkosh that I've ever seen is wall-to-wall people. I doubt that anything will change our minds.
From what I've heard from previous attendees, the lodging situation sucks because all the lodging within 75 miles is booked for the following year by the people as they're checking out.
Ex-wife number 1 lives in Manitowoc but I doubt that she'd be receptive to a request for a stay-over.

Mudge the reclusive partier

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Land of the free because of the brave

n/t

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Hey Mudge, I got to go with Dan. For aviation folks Oshkosh is like The Super Bowl. I'm not a fan of huge crowds either, but I never feel crowded. The few times you end up sort of lined up for something, I usually end up having a great conversation with the people. The people Mudge are what make this event even cooler. You can't poo-poo something if you've never tried it.
Chris the motivational speaker

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Alas, I have misjudged the Mudge.

"...jostled..."

"...herds of people..."

"...wall-to-wall people..."

"...lodging situation sucks..."

"I doubt that anything will change our minds"


If you can determine all that without ever having attended, you are a truly remarkable man.

I was wrong. Please don't attend.

And for your information, I haven't eaten thesaurus in years. In fact, I'm pretty sure they're extinct in southern Minnesota.

Enjoy an excellent Memorial Day weekend.


Dan the unofficial sponsor of imports for WIXfests I-IV (and hopefully V)

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Dan that photo is great! We need a bill board for Zack's yard.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Now that there's funny. I don't care who ya' are.

Mudge the bootlegger

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Land of the free because of the brave

If you've been at Duxford on the Flying Legends weekend (as I know you have) that's 'crowded'.

Oshkosh isn't.

I'd say that IMHO Osh is an essential visit for any committed aviation enthusiast, and for quality and variety gets my No.1 star for a show. (I've seen a few, too.)

It's not the best of everything - there are many specialised shows that are better at what they do; but it's unbeatable for variety and depth. I was at Oshkosh last year, and I can't recall being 'jostled' or 'crowded' once. If you manage to temporarily crippled yourself (like I did) you can even get around on a hired invalid cart with no problem. In fact I'm hard pressed to recall a friendlier show - that wasn't an intimate event like a fly-in. As to accommodation, it can be done if you really want it. I've good friends travelling from the UK, Australia and Canada I'm talking to about it at the moment. And that's additional to the WIX meet and catching up with other friends from all over the world there.

By all means skip it, it's your life, but don't kid yourself it's because of the reasons you've advanced - none of those should be show stoppers in themselves.

Cheers,

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

The crowds are nothing compared to the oppressive humidity (ever hear of 98 squared?).

A close second might be the evening security Nazis in the warbird area. I mean you never know what mayhem someone might commit with a camera flash unit...

I 've got an idea. If you don't like Oshkosh, how about just not posting in the Oshkosh thread?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

This picture brings to mind another topic:

Does anyone have a copy of the time/altitude/air temperature correction factor for making ice cream in a B-17 or B-24? I know that several Bomb Groups built ice cream churns and they would make ice cream while slow-timing engines. Someone had to have written down the figures somewhere......

Scott

If Greenwood would hurry up and get his Spit fixed, we could figure it out for ourselves during the AirVenture WIX Gathering!

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Curator - EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, WI
"Let No Story Go Untold!"
http://www.timelessvoices.org

On the first point, Brandon is quite correct: Oshkosh has more moisture than Chino. But that's why Chino is dry and dusty in summer, and Oshkosh is green and luxuriant. Besides, how could we grow mosquitoes the size of Hueys without some moisture? It's all in what you're used to: If you live most of the year in the desert, OSH will probably feel sticky to you.

On the second point, how many other fly-ins/airshows allow visitors free access to the display aircraft at night? Besides, daytime is for chasing airplanes. Nighttime is for chasing a shot with a beer (or a brat with an iced tea if you prefer).

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

OK...now your getting to me. Brats and iced tea! Never had a Brat until Ex #1 took me to Road America. Fell in love with 'em.

Keep it up...you may hit the motherlode at any moment. Not sure what it is but I'll know it when I see it.

Mudge the wavering

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Land of the free because of the brave

Ugh... Not the evening security complaint again. I have done that job as a volunteer for 20+ years with my parents and we are some of the nicest people you will meet out there. If you ask nice i'll even drive you around myself. However, there is one auxiliary police officer who is paid to be out there all night and he takes it upon himself to be a total harda$$ a$$hole sometimes. He gives the whole group of us a bad name.

There are reasons we keep people out at night. The first one being you can't see anything anyway unless you're trying to take pictures which we go well out of our way to accomodate. How many millions of dollars worth of aircraft are sitting out there? I am volunteering my time, driving a John Deere Gator, freezing and getting mosquitos in my eyes to make sure these airplanes are not being tampered with or being run into by people on bikes or SUV's being driven by drunk idiots.

Again, I apologize to anyone who has had an ugly run-in after hours by security and can probably guarantee it was from a guy in a brown jeep. I hate that you feel he speaks for all of us.

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-Al Sauer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spookythecat

Mudge, just give in already! It's obvious that you are pre-judging Oshkosh with your pre-conceived notions when in reality they are nothing like what you say. If you don't go to Oshkosh at least once in your life, you are truly short-changing yourself and for that I feel sorry for you. Everybody here is correct in what they say. Some of the best friends I have in life are ones that I made at Oshkosh over 25 years ago.