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07-18-2008, 08:10 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Newport, TN
Posts: 7,496
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I to had to make a difficult decision this year. I have never been to Osh and have been planning to go for over a year now.
But I decided that I need to spend my money on things I need to get my plane in the air and a couple of those items are a TW endorsement and transition training. So.... just so happens Jan Bussell in Florida had an opening that week and it was decided that I will be going down there for several days getting this done.
I expect that I would have spent similar money going to Osh and would of came home with nothing to show for it other than great memories. This way I at least get some required training with the same money.
I will get to Osh one day.
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07-18-2008, 08:16 AM
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 28
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Lack of true homebuilts
I want to bring this up somewhere, and a Van's site is probably not the best place to do so, but one reason I don't think I'm going to Oshkosh this year is that you see the same old stuff. Why should I fly several hours and spend hundreds on gas to go get lost in a field of RVs? I think the next time I go to Oshkosh it will be in a scratch built airplane of my design. I've been trying to get that project together for several years now, but don't have the cash. Anyone interested in investing? It started out as a light sport concept, but has shifted (due to the gas prices) to an economy 4 seater that will go 200mph. Yeah, get that, kind of an oxymoron. The goal would be to go 200, seat four people, with the best fuel consumption available. Pretty steep goal. But, to me, that's what Oshkosh is about... Innovation.
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07-18-2008, 08:51 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ottawa, On, Canada
Posts: 30
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It has been the same for me this year...an absence of the usual wonderful anticipation I experience for months before Christmas in July. I'm particularly surprised at this reaction, given that this will be my 25th anniversary of attending Oshkosh!!
I'm still going...it has been a busy few months lately, so I'm just now focusing on why I so much love to go: I enjoy parking myself and watching all the aircraft arrive prior to the show; there'll be Warbirds...I love Warbirds...and a genuine A6M Zero...I'll finally see one fly; tons and tons of RVs...including the -3s; riding the trams and just watching stuff; chit-chatting with other aviation nuts; meticulously built and restored airplanes.
Say, I'm beginning to get excited 
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07-18-2008, 09:12 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Near Scipio, in Southern Indiana
Posts: 1,779
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Bob,
We are going to miss you, but we'll live. It sounds a bit like burnout, and I truly understand that. Had it once and it was totally overpowering, something that surprised me. It lasted about six weeks in my case but I know that really varies. It isn't a permanent thing, and I believe (and hope) that will be the case with you. God bless your decision.
Since a number of people have addressed why they are going (or not going) to OSH, I will, too. About 15 years ago I took my first newbie there and enjoyed it greatly. Watching a person soak it all in for the first time made it all new again for me. That person was my father.
Since then, I have taken over half a dozen and it's always the same. This year it will be two new people; one going up with me and one coming mid-week. I know it will be special.
I would go if there were no airplanes there--as long as there were all the people. I consider all of you family and the other folks there almost distant kin. I have just gone through the sale of our family farm (which I handled) and REALLY need being around good people.
See you next year, Bob
Bob Kelly
__________________
Bob Kelly, Scipio, Indiana
Tech Counselor
Founder, Eagle's Nest Projects
President, AviationNation, Inc
RV-9A N908BL, Flying
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07-18-2008, 09:18 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Austin
Posts: 130
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I would love to be going this year, I even have a free right seat in my brother's P210, but I forgot to schedule OSH with my daughter last Oct. because she is due with my first grandchild right in the middle of OSHl I figured I shoud stick around and make sure that storks nose wheel does not collapse.
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07-18-2008, 09:33 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: MKE
Posts: 1,519
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Quote:
Originally Posted by videobobk
I would go if there were no airplanes there--as long as there were all the people.
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Bingo. Oshkosh is not about airplanes, it's about people. Many of these people only see each other once a year, making it a family reunion of sorts. A slightly dysfunctional family to be sure, but hey, which of our own families isn't?
Paul makes a good, though well worn point about EAA moving beyond homebuilders. By well worn I mean that it is valid and has been made many times by many people, including myself. However, EAA is as we speak in the midst of a reorganization, with the stated goal of returning to it's "core membership." Many small changes are in the works, and from what I have seen they are for the better. The Titanic couldn't turn on a dime and an organization as big as EAA won't either, but it is turning.
Give it another chance.
As for me, I wouldn't miss it for the world.
__________________
Jeff Point
RV-6, RLU-1 built & flying
Tech Counselor, Flight Advisor & President, EAA Chapter 18
Milwaukee
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07-18-2008, 09:35 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Nor Cal
Posts: 97
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Quote:
Originally Posted by c177tx
I figured I shoud stick around and make sure that storks nose wheel does not collapse.
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Hah, Hah that's funny! What would Oshkosh be without some controversy! I am sure some people will be wandering around looking at nose forks this year!
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07-18-2008, 09:44 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Warner Robins, GA
Posts: 1,187
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Sun N Fun is enough for me. Plus it is only 2.5 hours RV time away. That satisfies my big airshow yearning for the year. From what I hear, SNF is just a small scale OSH anyway.
I will make it to OSH eventually and would like to be part of the RV9 get together this year. But, it just happens to fall at a time when it is difficult for me to get the necessary days off work to make the long trip out there.
__________________
Bruce Sacks
RV-9 N659DB - Flying since 7/1/06
Hatz CB-1 - Fabric covering with Polyfiber.
Warner Robins, GA
A&P
APRS KJ4EFS
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07-18-2008, 09:47 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,685
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I think it is normal to feel that way
I am preparing our plane for the AirVenture Cup race out of Mitchell, SD to an airport I have never seen somewhere southwest of Fond Du Lac. All of the lower cowl baffling is in place, the tip tanks & 12" stock wing tips are replaced by homemade 3" wing tips shortening the wing span to 21.5 ft, the homemade wheel subfairings are mounted, the steps are removed, the plane has been thoroughly washed and I am waxing it for the second time in two months waiting for the dark blue Gaffer's Tape to arrive for reducing the rudder and elevator mounting holes. The tension is building and I look forward to the event and all that surrounds it.
When I was a young guy in the late 50s and early 60s I was a member of an organization called the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA 1967) and they had a National Championship each year at a different Naval Air Station (Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles in that order). I built a large box with a wedge shaped leading edge and each year I would load it full of free flight aircraft of every possible class I could prepare for and I would head out for the big competition. I enjoyed standing in the long processing lines to get the planes checked in for the next day's competition and then in the contest itself putting every technique, force of will and hope into every flight. I never tired of it but life events forced an end to it 1965. After the last contest of the season at Parks College in Illinois I launched every thing I had without dethermalizers and full tanks on the gas powered models - it was time to grow up and move on with serious life pursuits. I still remember the beauty of a free flight model of any class soaring to a max.
Oshkosh is an airshow and a beauty contest which I enjoy but do not really feel a part of. When I checked in at the homebuilder's booth after the AirVenture Cup in 2006 I asked if they had heard any results of the race yet and no one in the EAA booth even knew there was a race. I'm sure they were very happy to be there and be a part of the event as are all of the campers, volunteers, performers, War Bird owners and WWII veterans. Except for an occassional F-86, there are no military fighter or bomber aircraft at the show from the 1950s (my USAF era). If they flew in an F-101 or a B-36 I would go to the big show all the way from Arkansas just to see them fly again. The one thing that sparks my interest for this year's program is Jon Sharp's speed record attempt in the NXT.
Bob Axsom
Last edited by Bob Axsom : 07-18-2008 at 08:02 PM.
Reason: Note about step removal & typos
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07-18-2008, 09:54 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sutter Creek, CA
Posts: 842
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geico266
I I also get a kick out of talking with the old timers. When I see an old guy in a wheel chair, sucking on 02 I usually find a WWII vet just looking for someone to talk to with a story to tell. Maybe not the most exciting way to spend an hour, but I do it. Some of the stories I have heard will stick with me for the rest of my life! They come to OSH is a wheel chair, the least I can do is say thanks. I've struck up converstaions with guys that I later learn have a pretty impressive aviation resume. I'm not dropping names here, but suffice it to say they "Had the right stuff".
I would not dream of missing OSH. It would not be the same without me.  (kidding!)
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Larry,
"Maybe not the most exciting way to spend an hour"? I think you and I both agree that it is one of THE most satisfying ways to spend an hour, or two, or six! I took my Dad to the Gathering of Mustangs, and of course our primary objective was to listen to a symphony in V-12. However, once there I spent the majority of the time finding and chatting up aviators from the USAAC, USN, and USMC who were vets of the "War to end all Wars". My pop, and the others like him, is 86, can't hear (28 missions in a B-24), has a questionable heart, and is just generally old. But, for those two days last September, everyone of those men lived the excitment of being in their 20's.
During a break in the show, I noticed an older gentleman slowly using his walker to get closer to one of the Mustangs. What caught my eye was that as he moved along, he never broke his gaze on that P-51! He finally made it to the side of the nose, right below the exhaust stacks. As he stood there, he slowly reached out and placed his trembling hand on the side of that Mustang, and remained there with his head bowed. I walked over to him and waited, not wanting to interupt his thoughts. Soon, I was greeted with a smile, but from a tear streaked face. His cap told me that he had once been a Mustang pilot. I commented that it looked like he was reaquinting himself with an old flame. He said "actually, I was saying, goodbye and thanks." He went on to explain that the Mustang had brought him home everytime, and he owed her his life. His health was in rapid decline and he wanted to take this one last opportunity to say "thanks and goodbye" to the plane that next to his wife, had been the love of his life.
That my friends is why you should go to OSH, and any other fly-in, or airshow. It is not about who has the coolest EFIS or paint, it is about the people you meet and the friends you make.
__________________
Mark Ohlau
RV-6 N506MM VAF #1410
2017 Donation Made
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