Photos from Airventure 2013

Finally have some time to post some photos from Airventure 2013.

One of my many goals during this trip was to explore how and where folks were installing their heated pitot tubes on their RVs in relation to the wing tie down rings, and, more importantly how were they tying down their aircraft. The location is important because the tie down rope may interfere with the heated pitot tube if it not tied down properly. Varying distances and locations of hardpoint tie downs on concrete ramps at different airports also has an impact on this.I now know exactly where to place my pitot tube,which was about where I had planned to install it all along.

What I found is that most are tieing downwell forward of the leading edge of each wing and at an angle that should not interfere with the heated pitot tube. Some of the aircraft I stumbled onto had some - shall we say - unique approaches to tying down their aircraft,as in this first pic with its unique pitot tube cover:

Those of you familiar with the hit movie Avatar will recognize this next paint scheme on Paul Dye's beautiful RV-3B.

This next aircraft is probably in my top 3 list of the most beautifully painted ANYTHING I have ever seen. There is a very detailed story behind all of the art work on this RV-8. It is detailed in articles in Sport Aviation magazine and elsewhere, so I am not going to detail it here. There are remembrances of fellow pilots, war heroes, and of the pilot's wife all over this gorgeously painted aircraft.

Next is an odd shot of a B-24  - first one I had seen at Oshkosh in 4 years - called Diamond Lil. I caught the sun light facing in the completely wrong direction for an interesting photo effect

And next was a Vietnam era Caribou - a rare sight indeed. When I first started my career at Jeppesen several years ago I worked with a man that was a pilot of these aircraft during the war. This was a key work horse cargo aircraft that can operate on short unimproved fields with amazing performance capabilities.

Next is a Japanese torpedo bomber - code name Kate:

Next is the Terrafugia Transformation flying car that I actually got to see transform from car to an airplane that actually flew and then back into a car again. Very cool indeed and a hilight for me on this trip.

Next was the Kiddie Hawk flight simulator that I volunteered to help man at Kid Venture this year. This was a wonderful experience. The simulator is designed and built by a chapter 301 member and it rotates around all 3 axis just like a real airplane. It has a control stick and rudder pedals that will allow a young person to experience much the same sensation as climbing, descending, banking, and yawing gives to a pilot in real flight. A very ingeniously designed aircraft.

Then on the final Saturday of the event, I decided to try to run my first 5k by signing up for the Runway Run/walk event that helps support the local Oshkosh area United Way. You get to run on a service road from the Ultra Light park, across the threshold of Runway 36, up the other side of the runway, and back again to where you started from. I also conned Mike into signing up to run it with me, but he blew me away during the first 1/4 of the run as I just could not keep up and had to walk a few times to catch my breath. I did not do too bad for an old fart that does not ever run very much.


Balloons were supposed to launch but winds were not favorable so they remained tethered.

And Mike and I "recovering" after the run:

Note the paragliders flying in the background. They were just chomping at the bit to get the balloons off the ultra-lite runway so they could fly.

And then finally I capped it all off by attending the memorial service for the induction of fellow chapter member Brian North, whom we lost to a bad aircraft accident at KFTG earlier in the year. A plaque added to the wall along with other 2013 inducties. Brian never actually made it to Airventure in person before the accident, but his memory lives on at the memorial wall. If I ever have to depart this earth,I think this is an honor I would like to have fulfilled someday.I can't think of a better place for a pilot or aviation enthusiast to be remembered.

And then the deed was done. Here is the final sunset from Camp Scholler,the campground that becomes the largest single camp ground in the world for one full week. It empties out in a hurry starting Saturday evening and all day Sunday. I read an article in Sport Aviation recently where somebody summed up the general feeling when the end is finally here - it does make you feel a bit empty inside after having experienced total sensory overload at an event that forces you to run at a blistering pace just to experience a small portion of everything that you want to do while you are there. But I look at it this way, Wehave to take a break from it all each year, otherwise we would not realize just how special it really is to attend Airventure Oshkosh each year. There is ALWAYS something new to experience, and I most certainly did not even come close to doing everything that I set out to do. So I can hardly wait till next year to do it all over again!

And lastly the somewhat ghostly image of things that used to be..... a shadow of undisturbed grass forms the outline where an aircraft that attended Airventure once stood. Oh the memories it would divulge if it could talk. I guess that is another reason why airplanes still need pilots - only they can tell all the stories that both plane and pilot have experienced during this awesome event.

Recounting Oshkosh Airventure 2013 highlights

This trip began with a whole lot of trailer repair work through the months of May and June, and yes, that was all being done at the same time I was working on bathroom stuff for the house. I basically removed all the old sealant around the three air vents and re-sealed them, replaced the vent screens and vent cover hardware, and then I repacked all of my trailer wheel bearings for the first time. I had also repaired my broken window from last years excursion, and also replaced most of my cabinet door latches to ensure that the broken window situation would not occur again.

We had significant monsoon moisture throughout the latter part of June and into July, so I was a little worried that this trip would be another weather challenge. It turned out that the weather moved off to the east, and a very deep cold front had come down from the north. As a result,I was ableto make the whole trip up there without turning on the air conditioner once - not even when I rolled into Omaha, Nebraska. I bet that will never happen again in my lifetime.

Other high lights for this trip:

- The weather during the entire week of the event was absoutely perfect - 70s and 80s the whole time with no rain to speak of. It was bitter cold on Friday and Saturday night before the start of the event due to the cold front.
- Mike Rettig decided to stay in the trailer after the cold snap - amazing how much better it is to have "solid" accomodations than just a tent! Mike enjoyed having eggs for breakfast every morning.
- I attended the VAF/Vans gathering on Monday - metone of my heroes Paul Dyeadn severalothers and had to the chance to speak with him in person.
- I saw the Jet man and the Tarafugia Tranistion Flying car fly publicly for the first time
- I had the opportunity to volunteer a couple of hours each day at Kid Venture.I helped with the Kiddie Hawk motion simulator for little kids. THis  is actually quite an amazing design. It showed the kids what it felt like to experience flying an airplane. THis was my first official volunteer participation with Airventure and was very rewarding and enjoyable, even if it did interefere with my forum and classroom session plans from time to time.
- Attended several forums and classes from Mike Busch - a very well respected mechanic and pilot who provides very good advice for maintaining your aircraft.Also attended some composite classes and several classes that dealt with an ever-increasing concern amongst the EAB world - that of enhancing safety by changing regulations to allow for better transition training and safety for all pilots. Much of this dealt with reviewing the current LODA rules and attending a forum given by the FAA rep that is writing the new regs for this.
- New food vendors on the grounds made a huge impact at the event this year.
- I saw tons of RVs and took lots of pics that I will post later.
- I ran my first 5k run with Mike on thefinal Saturday morning of the event. You get to run across the approach end of the runway and back again, while airplanes arelanding above you.
- I attended the memrial service offered for friends and family of the fallen EAA members that are inducted onto the memorial wall. THis was held on the final Sunday of the event and I may post the video I cr eated for the family of EAA Chapter 301 member Brian North who passed after a horrible aircraft crash claimed his life. The family could not make it to the service, and I worked with John Schneider to attend the event and obtain etchings of the plaque that was added to the memorial walland returned and presented them to the family. This was a very humbling but rewarding experience, but is one that I hope I do not have to repeat very often.
- As I recall other things that I did during this trip I will addthemto this post. As usual there was just too much happening at one time to be able to attend everything even during the whole week of the event. That is why I can hardly wait to go back again next year, and I am already counting the days....