The Unofficial Oshkosh 2018 Thread

[GRNDP51]

There's a privately owned F-5 there, thought Rod was the only one that had one flying

[Pogo]

Many thanks to Dan for posting pix, and a call to any and all others who even think about posting some to please do so for those of us stuck elsewhere!

[Lon Moer]

Is that birdcage Meteor the same one that used to operate out of Mojave back in the late '70s? (I should have a picture of it somewhere)

Lon, perhaps you're thinking of Al Letcher's WD592?

http://www.goodall.com.au/warbirds-dire ... N94749.htm

That is the one I was thinking of. Which is now apparently hidden away at Edwards AFB.

[Lon Moer]

Damage looks “minimal”, but hard to imagine it will fly again this week. Fortunately she (Connie) was pretty well slowed down when it let go. She spun about 135 degrees to port and stopped - then calmly shut down the engines and waited for assistance

First half of this video is Tigercats (after the T6 taxi - one of the T6s looks like it has a four blade prop?) - Tigercat loses a wheel @13:56
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzKyvv9c-K0

[Flyin Illini]

The f-5 is owned by mr. kaney who hails from Rockford, Illinois.

[Mark Sampson]

Thanks, Mr. Terrell. I knew that Beechcraft when I lived in Rochester and was a member at Geneseo, and photographed it a couple of times. Never quite got a ride in it though. A beautiful plane even in the civilian yellow it wore then. Sadly it had suffered some type of landing accident and was under repair for several years... after I'd moved away in '11 I heard that it was being restored to original, and always wanted to see it finished. I guess that it must have been on loan to the 1941HAG/NWM, and that the owner has taken it back. Would have loved to see it when I'm back in NY state next month, oh well! Las Vegas is closer to where I live now.

[k5083]

Many thanks to Dan for posting pix, and a call to any and all others who even think about posting some to please do so for those of us stuck elsewhere!

Just got back and will post some pics when I get them processed.

I was only there Wednesday from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. It was so quick it seems like a dream. Never tried to do Oshkosh in one day before. I found that, if you're lucky with weather, work hard and take advantage of the trams, it can be done. You won't get to fully drink in the details of every nice T-6, Cessna 195 or RV that is there, but then, you can hardly do that in a week anyway.

The main drawback is that you don't get to see everything flying. You're at the mercy of that day's airshow schedule and what people feel like taking for a hop in between. Wednesday's airshow was one where they give the prop fighters and bombers the night off, so I didn't get to see any of the Spitfires, Corsairs or P-40s in the air. They did feature the jets, which were impressive, and the C-47s. The surprise Blue Angels cameo for the show opening certainly went over well with the crowd.

I guess when it comes to seeing what we like in the air, warbird fans have it good and shouldn't complain. The vintage and homebuilt fanciers have very little chance of seeing their favorite showplanes flying even if they stay the whole week.

Speaking of antiques, that group of Travel Airs that came in together is fantastic. Nicest line-up of those I've ever seen. Good showing of round-engine antiques in general.

It is a great year for DC-3s. There must be 12 or 13 spread across the field from the warbirds at the north end to the big-plane camping area at the south end. I didn't even get to see them all. There was one I saw on the cams with Air Commando stripes that was gone by Wednesday morning.

It is a good thing Kermit came through with the WWI planes because other than his birds and the DH-4, the so-called WWI theme was pretty lame. The other replicas were scaled-down and unconvincing. I can't help feeling EAA did not make a sincere effort. There are a lot of people building good, full-scale WWI replicas out there, and Oshkosh should be able to get 20 or 30 of them if they want to.

I was going to remark that I've never seen an Oshkosh with no Avengers before, but now I see from the webcam that two have arrived. I'm sure there will be a few other late arrivals I'll regret missing.

I saw quite a few Socata Epsilons in the warbird area and elsewhere. I had never noticed these, but suddenly they appear to be the New Thing. Nice looking planes.

I left just as the night show was starting, before it was cancelled, but from the highway I did get to see the B-1 lighting up all the storm clouds with its afterburners and I must say I will not soon forget that. Pretty wicked sight.

I don't know what the weather turned into on the field, but heading east on the road, I went through hands down the most violent and dangerous storm I have ever driven through. Visibility was limited to the next three dashes painted on the road. Lightning was almost continuous, water flowing in thick sheets so you knew you had no traction. I wanted to pull over but literally could not see the shoulder, didn't know if there was enough room and feared that I would just become a hazard for other cars. The adrenaline rush from that kept me alert through the rest of the 5-hour drive to Minneapolis even after the tiring day on the field.

Anyway. A few pics tonight maybe.

August

[garbs]

Many thanks to Dan for posting pix, and a call to any and all others who even think about posting some to please do so for those of us stuck elsewhere!

As usual, no means to upload until Monday earliest. Sorry! Only have a few so far, but plan to load up next few days.

Regarding the storm, we apparently got lucky. Steady Rain that wiped out the fireworks but no really high winds. Night air show has been rescheduled for tonight. WB detail for rest of today is (please excuse lack of formatting):

RAF Intro to jets
RAF Piston & Early Jets
4:53
5:03
18
Warbirds of America
Various Warbirds
5:03
5:33
19
USAF Heritage Flight
F-16C & P-51
5:33
5:51
20
USAF C-17 Demo Team
C-17
5:51
6:06
USAF F-35A Arrival
F-35A x 2
6:06
6:10

[kalamazookid]

I attended my usual three days, Monday - Wednesday. Been going through photos today. Some random thoughts:

The two Tigercats were easily the highlight for me. Monday's flight was fantastic. I wish it had included more passes. The Air Zoo Tigercat was one of the big reasons I became interested in warbirds as a kid and I hadn't seen one fly at an airshow in 18 years. What a beast of a plane!

"Special Kay" is impressive. The paint scheme and weapons load out are awesome. I wish the Warbirds of America show had been coordinated in a way that would have allowed the aircraft to have flown lower and more in front of the crowd.

Dave Hadfield's Spitfire display on Tuesday was another highlight of the airshow for me. Loved the way he banked the Spitfire around in a way that showcased the aircraft's lines perfectly.

The Shaw F-16s did a great beat-up of the field after arrival with two P-51s during the concert fly-over Monday night.

A lot of nostalgia with warbirds I used to see regularly but haven't for awhile including Moonbeam McSwine, the Fighters & Legends F4U-5 and the Tom Wood Aviation Bearcat. All of these were big parts of the warbird shows of my childhood and it was really cool to see them all in one place again.

Other warbird highlights: Lope's Hope, four Skyraiders, the Fagen P-40, Gloster Meteor, F-5 and the F4U-7 were all impressive. P-51s Barbara Jean and My Sweet Mary Lou were new to me. Always cool to see different P-51s.

Vintage highlights: Travel Airs, the Lincoln-Page LP-4 and the 1936 Aeronca LB. I saw the Aeronca a few days prior at the antique fly-in in Hagerstown, IN and it was good to see it getting attention at Oshkosh.

After all the buildup, the RAF 100 flight was a huge disappointment with only three aircraft in the air. At least the Spitfire display was awesome.

I wish Warbirds of America would take a "less is more" approach to the warbird shows. If exciting aircraft like the B-26K, B-25 and some of the jets are only going to orbit directly over or behind the crowd, it's kind of a waste. Personally, I'd rather see fewer aircraft flying more passes where the crowd can actually see rather than three different circuits/altitudes being flown with one circuit behind/over the crowd and another at 1,500 feet and barely over airport property. Get the aircraft in front of the crowd!

I'd be perfectly ok if I never saw Ford Mustang drifting incorporated into an airshow again. There was a 9-10 year old sitting in my area who said "I thought this was supposed to be an airshow." Me too, kid. I understand the need to incorporate the important sponsors but Good Lord, what a snoozer.

TL;DR - another fun year, here are some pics.

It was pretty hard to get the memorial chock and nose art into the same pic, but tried to anyway as a tribute to Vlado.

IMG_5653 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_4829 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_4872 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_4906 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_4990 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5012 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5076 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5119 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5146 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5191 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5235 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5256 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5311 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5315 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5316 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5372 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5389 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5395 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5404 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5416 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5447 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5457 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5461 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5468 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5473 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5490 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5506 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5519 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_5621 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

Full album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884 ... 1611506838

[GRNDP51]

Gorgeous photos, I've been watching the livestream and following along on many different social media and I agree about the warbirds segment. Needs to be longer and more "defined", not just throw random planes in the air have some do formations and call it. There are a lot of warbirds on that ramp that should fly together, by themselves, make some passes, etc... I doubt we see the 3 Invaders in the air together, also doubt we see the 4 Skyraiders. What's the point?

I also find it unusual that there were only a few key entities that brought warbirds and some of those went all out! Cavanaugh brought the Raiders and the Mustang, Slattery sent his 2 Cats all the way from Colorado that's awesome! Lewis didn't send anything, Fagen only sent the P-40, I guess Kermit was focused on WW1 but he has some cool Mustangs that would've been a treat... it's just crazy to me the mass amount of warbirds i circulation and airworthy and the greatest celebration in US can only get a handful. Maybe I've been looking at too many Duxford pictures. They know how to do it.

[JohnTerrell]

Fagen sent both their P-40 and B-25. The Dakota Territory Air Museum sent their P-51C and Spitfire. VWoC were sending their P-40 and Spitfire, but the P-40 went tech this past weekend. The Warbird Heritage Foundation sent their Skyraider, Mustang and F-86. Some of the Wings of the North warbirds arrived yesterday or this morning. The Yankee Air Musuem sent their B-17 and C-47.

With I believe over 220 warbirds attending, the number still far outweighs the number of warbirds that could ever make a Duxford airshow (albeit many are trainer types). Mustangs alone there has been at least 20 this year (though perhaps not all at the same time) - "Lope's Hope 3rd", "Tuskegee Airmen", Ed Lindsay's Cavalier, "Moonbeam McSwine", "Old Crow" D-model, "Old Crow" B-model, "Gentleman Jim", "My Sweet Mary Lou", "The Brat III", "Lou IV", "Pecos Bill", "Quick Silver", "Gunfighter", "Lady Alice", "Barbara Jean", "Ain't Misbehavin", "Sierra Sue II" (I think), "Charlotte's Chariot II", "Petie 2nd", CAF "Red Nose", Andrew McKenna's, (some of these came all the way from Florida, Texas and California). Four Corsairs, four Skyraiders, two Spitfires, two Tigercats, two Wildcats, two Avengers, three A-26's, two B-25's, more than a dozen C-47's/DC-3's, a Yak-9, a Bearcat, two P-40's, the CAF Helldiver, B-29 "Doc", B-17 "Yankee Lady" (in addition to the EAA B-17), etc.

Last edited by JohnTerrell on Thu Jul 26, 2018 6:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[kalamazookid]

Photos and the livestream just don't do it justice. There are more than enough aircraft this year. I think I counted 18 P-15s at one point. There are close to 80 T-6s, two P-40s, two Tigercats, four Skyraiders, at least a dozen DC-3/C-47s, two Spitfires, three A-26s, two B-25s, etc. It's always an impressive gathering and this year is no exception.

My only wish is that the warbird show showcased a couple of the aircraft better. In the grand scheme of things, that's a small nitpick. The warbird shows are impressive and it's always hard to decide where to look because there's so much going on! Given the amount of aircraft in the air, the most important thing is to keep everyone safe.

Hope everyone there enjoys the rest of the week! I'm plenty burned out. Three full days from 8 a.m. to dusk is enough for me.

I did miss seeing Bally's Bomber. I couldn't get a definitive answer on where it was other than a vague wave towards homebuilts and I wasn't motivated enough to go looking for it when there were so many warbird and vintage aircraft to look at. Maybe next time!

[k5083]

I did miss seeing Bally's Bomber. I couldn't get a definitive answer on where it was other than a vague wave towards homebuilts and I wasn't motivated enough to go looking for it when there were so many warbird and vintage aircraft to look at. Maybe next time!

That one was tricky. I found it next to the homebuilt forum buildings, next to the Blue Barn on Knapp Street (the street that forms the west boundary of the Mustang paddock and separates it from homebuilt camping). Didn't get any pics, as that plane isn't my cup of tea. Considering the amount of interest in it, it could have been displayed somewhere much more prominent.

August

[Pogo]

THANKS for pix, and looking forward to those to come! Just unbelievable sensory overload, as always.

[Lynn Allen]

Fagen sent both their P-40 and B-25. The Dakota Territory Air Museum sent their P-51C and Spitfire. VWoC were sending their P-40 and Spitfire, but the P-40 went tech this past weekend. The Warbird Heritage Foundation sent their Skyraider, Mustang and F-86. Some of the Wings of the North warbirds arrived yesterday or this morning. The Yankee Air Musuem sent their B-17 and C-47.

With I believe over 220 warbirds attending, the number still far outweighs the number of warbirds that could ever make a Duxford airshow (albeit many are trainer types). Mustangs alone there has been at least 20 this year (though perhaps not all at the same time) - "Lope's Hope 3rd", "Tuskegee Airmen", Ed Lindsay's Cavalier, "Moonbeam McSwine", "Old Crow" D-model, "Old Crow" B-model, "Gentleman Jim", "My Sweet Mary Lou", "The Brat III", "Lou IV", "Pecos Bill", "Quick Silver", "Gunfighter", "Lady Alice", "Barbara Jean", "Ain't Misbehavin", "Sierra Sue II" (I think), "Charlotte's Chariot II", "Petie 2nd", CAF "Red Nose", Andrew McKenna's, (some of these came all the way from Florida, Texas and California). Four Corsairs, four Skyraiders, two Spitfires, two Tigercats, two Wildcats, two Avengers, three A-26's, two B-25's, more than a dozen C-47's/DC-3's, a Yak-9, a Bearcat, two P-40's, the CAF Helldiver, B-29 "Doc", B-17 "Yankee Lady" (in addition to the EAA B-17), etc.

John, who's Bearcat is there?

Thank you,

Lynn