If you did not attend Airventure this year, then you missed.....

Now that I have adequately vented about all the less-than-pleasant things that happened on this latest trip to Airventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, I need to be sure to point out to anyone reading these small slices of my life, that the good times still far outweighed any of the not so good times. Part of the process of going to Airventure is experiencing the journey along the way. Without the journey, the destination would never be reached. The process of building an airplane is no different.

So, to begin with, if you did not make it to Airventure this year, you missed.....

- A great opening day concert with the Steve Miller Band - absolutely awesome show.

- Quiet time to reflect in the Museum - On the hottest day of the week, I sat down in a chair in air conditioned comfort that faced a quiet wall with several pictures of nose art on some aircraft of pilots in WWII from around the region, each with a story about the pilot behind the art. Some survived, and some did not.... Thank you all for your sacrifice. The museum is one of my favorite places to go - hot or cold, rain or shine.

- Watching Team RV perform for the first time at Airventure to honor the founder of Vans Aircraft - Dick Van Grunsven - 20 or 30 some odd RV aircraft, all built by their owners, performing one of the best mass aerobatic performances I have ever seen - truly inspirational stuff.

- Re-enactments of the Pearl Harbor Invasion by the Tora Tora Tora flight from the CAF. I have not seen this re-enactment for many years, but it was still a haunting experience to see just how quickly the Japanese airplanes can turn and re-engage in the attack. The aircraft that are used were replicas built from original plans for the original 1970s movie called Tora Tora Tora.

-  or perhaps you missed the antitheses of that attack that occurred on August 6, 1945, over Hiroshima, as demonstrated here......

- You missed the Vans banquet on Tuesday evening. Admittedly I had a hard time finding this pavilliion which is cleaverly hidden behind several trees and slightly out of sight from the main roads, but once we got there, it was a fantastic experience. Members of Team RV, Vans Staff, and at least 3 hundred other RV-owners, builders, and enthusiasts all came together for food, drink, stories, and just good times had by all.

- You missed the introduction of the new RV-14. This airplane turned out to be a cross between the RV-10 and the RV-7, with a cabin area about 2 inches wider than the RV-7, and wings that hold larger fuel tanks for better cross country endurance. The airplane is also still fully rated for aerobatics. Finally, an RV-7 for big folks, like me. Gotta finish the RV-8 first though!

 - Or maybe you missed the movies at the Ford Fly-in Theater. I absolutely love this feature about Airventure. Drive In movies every night with out the cars - just you, your chairs, free popcorn, and perhaps a favorite beverage, all while sitting under the starsv-just beautiful. This year you missed 633 squadron, 30 seconds over Tokyo, Star Trek, The Rocketeer, Red Tails, and one other one that escapes me at the moment.

- Forums and seminars and workshops galore. If you have questions about how to do something, this is certainly the place to ask the questions and get the correct answers. Due to all the car adn trailer issues I was not able to attend all of the forums that I wanted to, but I did manage to attend the RV Composite Workshop, and part of the discussion about ForeFlight and its product offerings for EFB solutions in the cockpit, as well as one other forum that discussed the future of the unleaded fue movement that will invariably keep heading our way. (Stupid ass tree huggers) - there, now you know my unedited opinion about all that stuff. But I digress....

 - If you did not make it to the Saturday night Airshow, then maybe you missed the most awesome fireworks and night airshow on the planet. Here is a snippet of that to wet your appetite for next year.

- Or perhaps you missed the opportunity to walk amongst a literal sea of homebuild aircraft all over the grounds. I am happy to report that there were reportedly between 475 to 500 RV aircraft present at Airventure this year, once again breaking a record previously held by Cessna for the largest number of same - make aircraft that have landed at Airventure. RVs rule! There are currently about 7700 reported kits currently flying in all parts of the world.

Here are some pics that I took while roaming the grounds:

- Or you may have missed the Old and new flying together. Glacier Girl - a P-38 Lightening dug out of hundreds of feet of ice and fully restored and flying, teamed up with an A-10 Tunderbolt, aka Warthog.

And as if that is not enough..... To be continued......