Pogo wrote:
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
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