For the duration of the
show we stayed at the Travelodge by Wyndham, Appleton, with one
night at the better, Double Tree by Hilton hotel in Appleton
beforehand.
The Travelodge was undergoing repairs and restoration... The
first room we were offered smelled of tobacco and so we rejected
it... All in all it was a hotel with much to complain about
especially when the rate was increased for EAA Air Venture week.
We left three days before our booking was up and returned to
better accommodation in Chicago.
Across the road in Appleton was the Texas Roadhouse restaurant
where we had a good meal with jovial company. There were a lot of
visiting pilots.
Later we would try the best Thai food restaurant in Appleton:
'Thai Ginger Bistro'; it was awful, really awful. I ordered my
favourite, Kao Soi Gai... I've only had one bad Kao Soi Gai and
that was at a restaurant serving "the best Kao Soi in
Pai" in northern Thailand which was almost as bad.
Fortunately, later on in this journey I was able to go to Ban
Chok Dee in Langley BC where they make excellent Kao Soi Gai and
it restored my taste buds.
Personal single seat B17 Fortress bomber for sale.
Daren and I have different priorities.
His is to photograph aeroplanes and so here are a few from his
collection of arrivals.
Digital photography makes it possible to
take photographs economically.
I still have a ton of film slides of aeroplane pictures from my
past, a lot of money spent!
Likewise I have a lot of digital images from Oshkosh, too many to place on here, and so I have had to be selective.
Air Venture is a collection
of thousands of aircraft and you can never possibly see them
all... Daren gathered thousands of pictures as they all arrived
and so he has seen and recorded many more aeroplanes than me.
Onmy first trip I entered the Fly-In passing hundreds of Cessna
170 aeroplanes celebrating the 75th anniversary of the first
flight of the type.
Walking amongst some
fantastic aeroplanes I came across a very smart, no expense
spared, Aircoupe.
The first thing I noticed was the fact that static wicks had been
added to the ailerons... These are fitted to IFR equipped
aeroplanes that fly in clouds!
The aeroplane has a full suite of Avidyne avionics and is fully
Instrument Flight Rules compliant.
Why not?
An airframe is an airframe, it is a method of conveyance that
lasts a very long time, so why would you spend a lot of money on
a new airframe when you can upgrade an existing one?
Aeroplanes are scrapped when their engines reach TBO due to their
values after engine overhauls not being more than the cost of
those overhauls. Better to make use of that engine and keep the
aeroplane.
I have no qualms about upgrading to new, non traditional engines
(A65 to Rotax 912), instruments (glass), and digital avionics...
Keep the old stuff for when the aeroplane goes to a museum.
Zara and Mack Rutherford brought Zara's RTW aeroplane to Oshkosh.
I spent some time with
Chris Horsten of Sport Aircraft Canada who is the dealer for
Shark aeroplanes. A long chat, and then I helped clean the dew of
one of the aeroplanes on his stand. He gave me a Shark model made
on his 3D printer as a reward.
The Shark is attractive and a performer, and has been proven by
the two Round The World flights, and the short cross ocean flight
from Belgium to Oshkosh.
On walkabout
Jay and Mary Honeck who both had rides
around Highclere Castle with me in the Aircoupe.
Wifi was available around
most of the Oshkosh show and so I was able to be in touch with
Jay Honeck while at the show.
There I was talking to a former Canadian Airlines pilot when I
was invited to their tent on Row 504... "Where's Row
504?" I asked. "This is Row 504" was the answer;
how convenient!
In the USA I had become used to not being able to fly and so for
once I had a beer with my friends even though it was 'Day VFR'.
A storm brewed and attacked
the field while sending aeroplanes scattering for cover under
clear skies elsewhere.
For us it meant closing the flaps and holding the tent against
the strong shifting winds while the rain lashed down hard upon
us.
We were rounding the Horn in a storm while on the ground at
Wittman Field.
I was surprised to see this Epic E1000
which is remarkably similar to the Farnborough F1.
A real classic without camoflage.
This SuperMunk flew a great night show which I watched later on
television.
The Cessna 310 and 320 are attractive twin engine aeroplanes.
We parked in a car park close to the Pioneer Hangars.
The Twinmunk is a brilliant aeroplane.
Years ago I flew an AJEP Tailwind from Biggin Hill, this was a
pioneer in the homebuilt movement.
Chatted to Ercoupe, Aircoupe, and Mooney Cadet owners.
These are popular aeroplanes, well liked by their owners.
G ARHB is still for sale, I will be sorry when it is finally
sold.
There's no doubt of the enthusiasm of Brits for many things,
including aeroplanes.
Here at Oshkosh you also meet the many enthusiasts from North
America and some of them are not grey (gray).
One evening I went to the The Hangar Bar and Grill nearby the airport and had dinner with a bunch of chaps from British Columbia.
I also met up with Brad and
his daughter Daisy who flew to Oshkosh from Boundary Bay in their
newly overhauled Cessna 172M.
Brad is an engineer who as a job teaches at BCIT, but as a
passion he maintains aircraft while taking old Cessna 172s and
restoring them to as new.
We went offsite to Friar Tucks' bar-restaurant where a good meal
could be had for a normal (not inflated) price. It's always good
to meet friends.
Previously I had had lunch at Friar Tucks' with Jay and Mary and
another friend so I knew how good it was.
Waco Biplanes are still being made.
Recent years have dulled my
enthusiasm, especially after those Covid lockdowns which stopped
income and flying, we're still in recovery from that.
My enthusiasm was somewhat restored at Oshkosh and I once again
enjoyed the company of my fellow aviators... This is two sided
however as people who might accompany me get annoyed at my
distraction.
Daren went his way and I went mine and we both had a good time
for the most part.
There were incidents of rudeness, and some petty Hitlers riding
around in authority, but these were few in comparison to the
overall friendliness of people here.
Achtung, Junkers resurgence.
26th July was my last day
at Oshkosh, we were heading back to Chicago the next day... No I
hadn't seen it all, even a full week you probably could not see
it all, but there were other things to do and see.
And so we drove back to Chicago and moved in to the superb Weston
Chicago Northwest hotel which is set in very attractive landscape
grounds with a walk around four large ponds.
What's there for me to do for six days before my American
Airlines flight back to London?
I'll go to work.
Du Page Airport Chicago.