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Oshkosh -- Lessons learned!

bkervaski

Hellloooooooo!
Testing
This was our first Airventure and although we got off to a rough start it was a blast and we can't wait for next year!

1. Follow your gut -- not your neighbor

More than a few folks gave me the very sound advice to put boards under the wheels so if the ground was soft the plane wouldn't sink. We brought some boards with us and then noticed that nobody followed that advice. Sure enough, the plane sank and we had to rock it out a bit. Nice crack on the front wheel pant to show for not following my gut.

2. Tall standing tents won't survive a storm

We lost our tent the first night due to that first crazy squall line Friday. Somehow found a hotel until our new (and better suited to weather) tent arrived on Tuesday. The hotel was in full rape mode, $366/night for what amounts to a $89/night hotel. Ouch.

3. Rudder locks can break

Yea .. nice ding on my beautiful rudder that I get to fix and have repainted. The 2nd squall line on Saturday broke the gust lock. It's totally my fault too. I had no idea you had to "prime" pvc pipe before cementing. The rudder somehow bent past the rudder stop to contact the elevator but didn't have any other damage. I'm going to re-evaluate my rudder locking system.

4. Flight In -- Flight Out

We were fortunate to not have any issues getting in, went like clockwork, although I didn't impress anybody with my landing, glad the controller said "at or beyond the yellow dot" :D Same when we left, beautiful and uneventful flights both directions. This was our first long cross country, it was really confidence inspiring. (Thanks, Dan!) The Chicago shoreline was the highlight of my trip.

5. Overwhelming

The actual event was overwhelming, we stayed an extra day. On the very last day we realized we missed the entire vintage section and the seaplane base. So much to see. The museum was really well done, I was blown away.

2020 Oshkosh or bust! :p :D :eek:
 
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Bill,

Thanks again for taking John to the hotel with you. As you know, I was sleeping in a good (and large) tent next to him. His tent fills with water. Instead of just climbing into my tent and going back to sleep, he texts me.

Only a 17 year old would text someone in the next tent. And the chances of waking me with a text in the wee hours is somewhere south of 1%, in particular when wearing OSH camping earplugs ;)

Congratulations on the Bronze. You may enter again next year, but you may not receive the same or a lesser award. So, it's a shot at Silver/Gold, or forget it. Download the Judging Standards manual and study the scoring system. As you now know, you missed some points by not having the engine compartment viewable, and there are other ways to pick up additional points. A lot of Gold Lindy winners have done it on the second or third round. I'll post a link to an article later today.

Glad you got to fly the Lakefront on the way back. The west side was the better choice Friday heading north for obvious reasons.

And thanks for calling out the Mooney, not that it would have done any good. How much above me do you estimate?
 
And thanks for calling out the Mooney, not that it would have done any good. How much above me do you estimate?

He was too close for comfort. Still blown away that he didn't see you since we both were directly line of sight in his flight path. Insane. He went between us maybe 100 foot high in a climb. I'm not sure how far in trail we were, maybe 1500 feet.
 
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He was too close for comfort. Still blown away that he didn't see you since we both were directly line of sight in his flight path. Insane. He went between us maybe 100 foot high in a climb. I'm not sure how far in trail we were, maybe 1500 feet.

Well, if he was climbing, perhaps he did see me. Didn't go between us; he went over my canopy. My fault really. I was head down at that moment, dialing in Ripon after the fuel stop, and John missed him too. He was flying about 090, so he wasn't heading to OSH.

Another OSH lesson. Despite expectations, not all traffic is converging on Ripon, and best to set waypoints before launch.
 
Great meeting you and Phoenix, Bill, congrats on the award!! Dan, a hoot, as always

I might add a handheld radio for ATIS monitor before pushing out of the line to your change list. I did not know my battery condition and did not try the panel radio.

I got picked up fast and moved to taxi quick and safe, OSH style. Pushed (distracted) on my checklist, I missed controls free and did not discover my issue until take off.
 
It was great running into you. Well actually it was your plane.

'Why do I know that tail number and paint job?' :D

The important question is:

How WAS the flights up and back? How'd she perform and what did you wish the plane had for those kinds of flights?
 
How WAS the flights up and back? How'd she perform and what did you wish the plane had for those kinds of flights?

Effortless flights .. wonderful airplane .. can't imagine what else I would need except maybe a restroom in the back :D
 
Would be nice if it was faster

Ouch! :p :D

For the record (for those viewing) we were 172kts at 75% power with 100 pounds of baggage and 400 pounds of people with 50 gallons of fuel burning 9.1-9.8gph .. Dan has a very fast 8, we were slowing him down ..

(but we greatly appreciated you limping along for our benefit :D)
 
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Effortless flights .. wonderful airplane .. can't imagine what else I would need except maybe a restroom in the back :D

So a relief tube then?

I didn't notice if you'd made cupholders or not. I'm fabricating a couple for mine.
 
Ouch! :p :D

For the record (for those viewing) we were 172kts at 75% power with 100 pounds of baggage and 400 pounds of people with 50 gallons of fuel burning 9.1-9.8gph .. Dan has a very fast 8, we were slowing him down ..

(but we greatly appreciated you limping along for our benefit :D)

I am not sure my 7 can match your cruise! Looks like I have some work to do. :eek:
 
Broken Tents

Bill,

I learned from your situation. I am going to order an extra set of tent poles and a pole repair kit. I would never have thought about this until I saw your tent on the ground. The extra poles and repair kit are very inexpensive and will fit in the case with my tent and original poles. So hopefully that will provide me some protection in future years.

John
 
Sight

We were camping at 8th and Elm and saw what looked like a four person tent flying like 50 feet in the air north of where we were. That tent was airborn for a relatively long time!!!
 
Tent repair, shout out for Kelty

My tent poles (aircraft aluminum) broke in half during the storm, duct tape and PVC tube saved the remnants well enough for the rest of the trip. I called Kelty and they said send us the poles and we will fix them and ship them back, thats customer service:)
Figs
 
Have to admit that we envied those tall boxy tents with standing headroom until the winds really hit and some of them turned into wind socks. Our little low 3 place tent never moved an inch however it really is getting less comfortable with each year that passes. It?s a game of compromise isn?t it with no real winner if you include comfort in the equation. I think Bill made a good choice in his #2 tent.::D
 
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