Oshkosh 2018 - BullockAir-A-Palooze

[bullojm1]

I've been planning this Oshkosh/Airventures trip (coined BullockAir-A-Palooza) for some time now - I've been wanting to shuffle things up from years past as I've had friends move to new locations in the US -- As you have followed along in the past, I use this week off work to do the Oshkosh thing, and then visit a bunch of college friends around the US. This year I had a friend move out to Fort Collins, CO, so I decided to take the RV further west than she's ever been before.

My original itinerary was Cleveland - Oshkosh - Ft Collins - Des Moines - Detroit - Buffalo - Home. Weather was a MAJOR challenge along the route. Low ceilings, rain, headwinds, turbulence, etc.. It was the most challenging trip I've ever taken in the RV.

This is my GPS track from Garmin Pilot running on my iPad. I was only able to hit 83% of my intended cities, as I needed to bail on Buffalo, NY due to poor weather forecasted.


Official BullockAir-A-Palooza Stats:

• 22.1 Hours flown
• 178.8 Gallons of 100LL put to good use
• 3249 Nautical Miles Traveled
• 18.17 Average MPG
• 8.09 Average GPH
• 3 SOS Brothers Bikini Beer Bongs Consumed
• 1 Bumble Date Ruined
• 11 States Overflown
• 7 States Landed In
• 1 New State added (Nebraska)
• 1 Tornado Warning (Ft Collins while on Bicycle)
• 3 Breweries Visited
• 3 Media Passes
• 10 Nights Total
• 5 Nights in a Tent
• 32 oz of Prime Rib Consumed
• 1 Torrential Downpour
• 1,371 Pictures Taken
• 9 Friends Visited
• 100's of Aviation Friends Seen
• 1 New friend I ran into 6 consecutive days randomly!
• 0.5 Quarts of Oil consumed
• 2 Autopilot Malfunctions
• 8.4373 BEERMUGs (Beer Estimated Equivalent Rounded Measurement Units in Gallons).
• COUNTLESS Laughs.

[bullojm1]

This was nearly the trip that didn't happen. The weather looked absolutely horrible for the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest for the indefinite future. My first stop was a quick flight to Cleveland to visit a friend. I knew I could make it there, but I was very concerned I might be stranded there for multiple days. All of the forecasts said to not go. I spent almost all today trying to find a forecast or weather model that gave me a little hope of making it in VFR conditions. As I drove to the airport, I was fully ready to turn around at any moment and head home, cancelling this trip completely.



When I got to the airport, I unenthusiastically loaded the airplane. I kept checking the weather, hoping by some miracle things would of changed. They didn't. Worst case I'd make it to Cleveland, airline it back home, and collect the RV at a later date. The thought of showing up at work on Monday with my tail between my legs was the deciding factor...OFF WE GO!!!!!


No, I'm not a complete lush. Those Solo cups are for my epic beer tasting, as well as acting as forward-CG ballast.


Weather in MD/PA was perfect this Friday afternoon.


Weather in Cleveland, however, left a little to be desired. A system to the southwest was moving to Cleveland and I was trying to beat it.


Obligatory "Going to OSHKOSH!" smile...even though I didn't believe I'd make it.


Hey, a nice tailwind. Things are slightly looking up.


nearly 200 MPH across the ground. Can't help but smile.


I've yet to figure out the ADS-B weather intensity color coding. You would think dark red and purple would mean certain death?


And this is my view out the window. Bad to the north, but fine along my present heading.

[bullojm1]

You call that a purple???


Once clear of that line of storms, the weather drastically improved. The line of storms which was approaching Cleveland dissipated to nothingness. It was smooth sailing.


Well, almost smooth sailing - KLPR (Lorain County) had a pretty stiff direct crosswind - 25 kts. However, the RV handled it perfectly. Even heavily loaded, it was a piece of cake landing - it surprised the heck out of me!


Bunkered down for the night.


A nice use of some AN365-832A nuts and AN960-8L washer hardware in the men's bathroom at KLPR!

[bullojm1]

Weather today SUCKED. The whole mid-west from Cleveland to Chicago was MVFR at best. Lots of heavy rain cells and low ceilings. I hung out at the Lorain County (KLPR) for a few hours keenly watching the weather. It looked like I could *almost* make it, except there was a massive line of storms just south of Lake Michigan - and there only seemed to be a very small hole in them. 5pm was my deadline for taking off out of Cleveland. With 3 hours to Oshkosh and a time difference, it meant I had a small chance of making it there sometime between 7-8pm (tower closes at 8).



My plan of action was to see how far I could make it. I knew I could make it across most of OH and IN, but I was very unsure about making it to IL. Worst case I would turn around and come back to LPR and try again tomorrow.


Crossing into MI the weather to the south of me was nothing but soup. The ground in OH/MI was absolutely waterlogged, but helping the situation.


My high school drama teacher would be proud of my performance here. It definitely looked awful to the south.


However to the north, it looked fantastic. You can even see a little blue sky poking through.


And this was the gauntlet. Around the lake was IFR. There was only one clear hole to try to poke through.


After pushing MVFR to it's limit's, I was able to snake myself through this line of weather.


It wasn't pretty - steady rain, low ceilings, but I was able to push through.


The weather improved significantly and I was able to fly between layers.


However, on the other side of the storm a stiff 20kts headwind appeared.


Just southwest of Chicago the sky cleared out....I might ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO OSHKOSH TODAY!!!! I texted my friends who were there to get a cold beer ready for my arrival in an hour!

[bullojm1]

Northwest of Chicago the sky was very inviting. I was psyched to of made it through the terrible weather and to Oshkosh today.


Wait...WHAT THE DEUCE??? IFR conditions ahead? NOOOO! There was a decent sized rain cell heading south. I needed to divert westward to almost Madison, WI.


I was able to clear the weather to the east of Madison and off to Oshkosh I trucked. Just when I could start picking up Fisk Approach, it became clear my aspirations and high hopes for making it to Oshkosh would not come to fruition tonight. The mass arrivals of Bonanza's for the second year in a row had f*cked me. Oshkosh tower was shut down for the night and all traffic was to divert to an alternative.



This is something I did not plan on. I had no idea where to head. I heard on approach some cute-sounding girl saying "I'm heading over to Wautoma". After a quick look at exactly where Wautoma (Y50) was, it seemed like a logical place to divert to.


After 3.4 hours if felt GREAT to be on the ground. Wautoma ended up being one of the best places I could end up at. CHEAP fuel ($4.25/G), camping was allowed on the field, pizza delivery, GREAT FBO with showers and a pancake breakfast in the morning.

I met some great guys from Lubbock, TX who little did I know would run into EVERY DAY AT OSHKOSH. We shared some pizza and cocktails here, all stuck in this little Oshkosh in Wautoma, WI.

While when I landed at Wautoma I was severely disappointed I was not at Oshkosh, it ended up being one of the unexpected highlights of my trip

[bullojm1]

Wautoma was like a mini-Oshkosh. 40-50 airplanes tied down and everyone camping.



We woke up to some nice MVFR weather which quickly, along with Oshkosh, went IFR. Some rain was working itself from east to west. Wautoma went MVFR relatively early - about 10am, while Oshkosh was still IFR. EVERYONE at our FBO was waiting for Oshkosh to go MVFR. My friends from Lubbuck and I decided it was better to be in the air circling lakes while MVFR and waiting for Oshkosh to go MVFR, than to be on the ground and get the good word. We all had full tanks of gas and only 30 nm to fly. So the 4 of us jumped in our planes and took off, to the dismay of nearly every other pilot at Wautoma. I didn't know if it was jealously or stupidity we were being judged on.


As soon as we got in the air, Fisk approach announced they were MVFR!!!! I firewalled the RV to get to RIPON before the controllers changed their mind. In all my years of flying to Oshkosh, this was the easiest approach ever. No one was around me.


Is this 1000' ceilings? Yes. Exactly 1000' Mr FAA.


Perfect form down the tracks from Ripon to Fisk.


About a little before noon I was at Oshkosh! I was told I was one of the first 10 arrivals. You can see in my row there was only one experimental (RV-8 from PacNW - N18VA)) that landed before I did.


I don't know what was the big deal with arrivals this year. My Garmin Pilot track indicated it was a CAKEWALK.


First order of business - Picking up my MUCH APPRECIATED RivetBangers.com media passes for Captain John, Mitch and I. Mitch is my incredible A&P friend my Plymouth Mass. He has helped me fixing uncountable issues with my RV - some even mid-air via text. It was the least I could do to hook him up with Media passes for his FIRST OSHKOSH EXPERIENCE! Nothing like new blood.


Onto more important business - the THIRD ANNUAL BEER TASTING! Todd Stovall was KEY in helping getting hundreds of beers cold enough for consumption. THAKS FOR VOLUNTEERING TODD!!!!

[bullojm1]

The Beer Tasting was a HUGE hit!

[bullojm1]

THANKS TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS! Todd Stovall, Rob Sheerer, Captain John, Dave Setzer, and Mitch Buckley. AND A HUGE THANKS TO JERRY FISCHER and RICH EMERY!!!!


It's a sucky job, but someone has to pour and drink the beer.


Can you imagine your first Oshkosh being this guy? His smile says it all.


This was new....360 degree opening top! Cheers to you whoever brought it, you won at beer today!


My friend Dave (RV-7) from Martinsburg. He played it safe and came out Thursday before the terrible weather invaded the mid-west.


Some after-beer-tasting pics. Yah-Dude from New-England made it!

[bullojm1]

Mitch and my camp for the week.


Some of us new to Oshkosh who are Patriot Fans aren't thrilled with the cooler choices WI has to offer.


A quick jaunt to SOS Bothers has turned Mitch's frown upside-down.


CJ even helped suck down a few Yankee Buzzards.


Even though I know there's a perfectly good open gate a few hundred yards away, there's something satisfying about scaling the gate.


However, some of us of more portly proportions had to get down and dirty....

[bullojm1]

Monday morning we awoke to a perfect Wisconsin sunrise.


I upgraded to a different solar charger this year which I placed on my tent - a SOKOO 22W 5V 2-Port USB Portable Foldable Solar Charger (SOKOO FSC-22). This solar panel is very lightweight and has two USB plugs on it. I used it to top off my battery packs in the tent during the day. WORKED GREAT! A much better and lighter solution than I have used in years past.


My friend Mitch went on an early morning walk around the Oshkosh grounds and spotted this interesting tie-down technique on this One-Design. Let's just say I'm happy I wasn't parked near this guy...


I'd love to know the purpose of these "training wheels" on this One-Design...


For a second year in a row the sleep B-1B made an appearance.


Unfortunately for the B-1B, Mike Patey's turboprop STOL Wilga stole the show.



While the P&W PT-6 turbine on the front of it might impress some, the massive tailwheel off the tail made this really stand out.


"Doc" with a plethora of RV's in Aeroshell Square.