Unofficial 2024 Oshkosh thread...

[marine air]

The British used the B-29 from 1950 to 1958. They called them "Washington B.1s." Don't know but assume at least some of them had the Silverplate modifications. The Lancaster was still aroun dduring this time. Also, weren't there Lancasters in the South Pacific area? So, there could've been a formation, maybe.

[Thomas_Mac]

Has there even been a B-29/Lancaster formation before?

Looks like Brantford in 2018 and Hamilton airshows a few times over the years have featured a combined pass of FiFi and FM213.

[DH82EH]

During the nineties, there was a Lancaster, B-17, B-29 & B-24 formation. I forget exactly which year.

[DJ Hunt]

I also thought the 29's and Lanc pass was great and deserved another but I wonder how much was EAA vs. the USAF as they had their demo next and might have been time constrained in the whole thing in terms of runway clearance and what not.

All three of us wanted to do more passes of the formation, but EAA wanted that one pass based on the time constraints of the night show. Originally we wanted to do a tighter Vic formation 3-ship, then break into the 2-ship of Superforts, then down into single ship passes.

Just happy that we were able to do it at all.

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The EAA should be ashamed of themselves. They flogged this flight as a highlight of the night show and then gave us one pass which from a photographers point of view was not that good. The warbirds always get shorted whenever the EAA is up against the clock. The again, maybe the photo flight for the exclusive two or three folks should have had their time cut short. Hundreds of thousands of ground based folks lose out for air to air prima donnas.

The folks I was with were less than pleased having watched the bombers take off roughly an hour before their one high pass which was a formation in name only.

Thank you Randy for explaining what happened. My beef is with the EAA, as it is every year when it comes to ther warbird time allotments and flight patterns.

[k5083]

EAA really did screw us there. I'm also a bit cheesed that the Lanc/F-18 flight was shifted from Saturday, for which I stayed over in part to see it, to Sunday, after I had to leave. But I do hope they got a chance to do a decent display on Sunday and that all 15 remaining spectators enjoyed it.

Anyway, here are some frontal views from the runways/taxiways.

August

Attachments

[DH82EH]

When I was at Osh 2019, the F-22 demo or F-35 I forget which, supplanted a very rare and unique opportunity of B-29 XP-82 formation.
That was a real disappointment.
Replace the unique with the mundane.

[JohnB]

During the nineties, there was a Lancaster, B-17, B-29 & B-24 formation. I forget exactly which year.

That would have been something to see.
A history book comes to life.

[k5083]

When I was at Osh 2019, the F-22 demo or F-35 I forget which, supplanted a very rare and unique opportunity of B-29 XP-82 formation.
That was a real disappointment.
Replace the unique with the mundane.

I was thinking about that also. Another time when they flew plenty for the photographers, not for the paying members.

Then EAA puts out videos and magazine spreads of the photo shoot that make you think, "Wow, if I'd gone to Airventure, I'd have seen that!" No you wouldn't, sucker.

They even tried that on the ground one evening in 2019, when they set up a gathering of XP-51, P-51B x2, P-51D, P-51H, and P-82 on Warbird Alley, then tried to chase everyone away so that only EAA could get a good look and pics. Ha, nice try. They could get away with that in the air, but those few of us who were around, were not having it.

August

Attachments

[phil65]

Nice picture though..

Phil

[Xray]

Tough to see many complaints, all said & done you still get a world class airshow for a reasonable price while many shows struggle to get anything and often get half the commitments cancelled. I couldn't put up with all the civilian craft though, if I ever go will try to go on military days, if such there are. Is there much of a community that hangs on the approaches, or are they pretty well cordoned off ?

[mazdaP5]

Tough to see many complaints, all said & done you still get a world class airshow for a reasonable price while many shows struggle to get anything and often get half the commitments cancelled. I couldn't put up with all the civilian craft though, if I ever go will try to go on military days, if such there are. Is there much of a community that hangs on the approaches, or are they pretty well cordoned off ?

It's a lot of complaints because it's the internet. You get 7 four hour airshows and 2 night shows for about the ticket price of going to another one day event. You can also get fairly close to anything on the ground, even while taxiing, and be right under the turns for final. Oshkosh isn't perfect, but it's darn near.

[k5083]

It's a lot of complaints because it's the internet.

Nonsense. There were plenty of complaints right there live on the crowd line, believe me. When the Lanc and B-29 landed after one not-even-a-pass, there was a chorus of "What, are you kidding me?"

Of course Oshkosh is the biggest and best airplane thing there is. So big and good that I feel a little sorry for folks who are into almost any other interest, because they don't have a thing near as big and good as Oshkosh.

The idea that something that is great, is above criticism, is silly. Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift, but she lip syncs sometimes, she knows about six chords, and she sings too much about ex-boyfriends we don't care about.

At the margin, EAA just sometimes forgets who built it, and makes decisions that are against the membership/audience, is all we're saying.

August

[kalamazookid]

Of course Oshkosh is the biggest and best airplane thing there is. So big and good that I feel a little sorry for folks who are into almost any other interest, because they don't have a thing near as big and good as Oshkosh.

I didn't attend this year, but this is usually what I come back to when I have complaints. There are inarguably things they can do better - my continual criticisms are that they don't showcase the unique aircraft/formations nearly enough and the warbird show is in massive need of an overhaul - but the afternoon airshow is such a small part of the total experience of Oshkosh that these things usually don't end up detracting from my overall experience. Your earlier point about photos of certain formations is spot on. Unless you happen to be a spectator at 10,000 feet above Lake Winnebago, you aren't going to see a lot of the formations that appear in magazine spreads. Sure, they happened, but not where anyone could see them. There are a lot of other great things that we do get to see throughout the week though.

Oshkosh is still awesome and I'm looking forward to returning in 2025 after a two-year hiatus. I've had some great airshow experiences in the last couple years, but they don't compare to Oshkosh. I already have my accommodations booked.

[Mark Allen M]

I recall WIX had this conversation a few years ago as well. As someone who’s been to AirVenture a dozen or so times, I’ve always been informed that Oshkosh isn’t as much a week long airshow as it is a gathering of EAA members and chapters. We warbird fans usually concentrate on just that at Oshkosh, but there’s so much more for those who enjoy other aviation interests. So while there are indeed flying displays each evening, the airshow portions are not really what Oshkosh is about. Just my opinion and advice from old seasoned Oshkosh veterans.

If you’re looking for a true warbird airshow then Chino (now Santa Maria) CA, Duxford in the UK and a select few others are your best bet for watching warbirds flying around. Oshkosh IMO is where you can see the latest, finest warbird restorations more so on static display than flying.

I wouldn’t say Oshkosh is necessarily a great place to go for an “Airshow”, but a fantastic place to go for an Aviation Convention.

[L-188]

I haven't attended in recent years due to work, or now health issues. I always plan on attending, then life gets in the way so I'm restricted to watching the webcams. I don't know who to contact at EAA ( and I'm an occasional docent at the museum) but most days I simply give up. The cams turn occasionally and can't turn 360 degrees. I just check in occasionally to see if I can glean info from wherever they're pointing. Watching the airshow gives me nice views of the crowd while the action goes on behind the cameraman.
As far as attending I'd need a scooter and that just makes me part of the problem. From what I hear there are more wheeled vehicles than there are people walking so I'm not sure that's an option. Maybe I'll figure out a way to attend one of these days. In a way I'm kind of glad I didn't attend this year. I'd have been just as frustrated as many of you are.
I've been a member since the 70's and can boast a 5 digit membership#( In fact, one number lower than Garbs lol) EAA sure has changed over the years, and I can remember rumors that Paul was not at all happy with the direction it was heading in. Again these
are just rants from a now old guy so take them with a grain of salt.