ColoRv
Well Known Member
This year's Oshkosh was different for me than previous years in that this time I flew in my newly completed RV8! The trip was relatively uneventful both ways with most of it spent dodging weather and winds I'm not sure I was quite ready for with my 60 hours of RV time. As my guru said though, "That's how we gain experience."
Bright and early Monday morning the judges descended on my new bird.
We build these wonderful flying contraptions surrounded by our friends and as our friends they tell us what a beautiful job we do but 21 judges signing the card are not our friends and these experts don't pull any punches. Later in the day a judge arrived who went straight to every difficult part of the build. Another judge pointed out that this was the RV expert in their group, and I recognized the name Rick Gray from these forums. He had me unlock the controls and raise the flaps and really took my plane apart. It's humbling when a real expert finds every one of our missteps. He couldn't have been nicer about everything though and it was obvious he was trying to help me improve my skills. After pointing out a couple dozen heartbreaking errors, he shook my hand and told me I really built a beautiful bird. What a great guy, as were all the judges.
I stayed at the plane all week and met more people than I thought possible. What a great community of people we have in this RV hobby of ours. There were some characters too of course as I was informed that I should have gone Dynon instead of Garmin due to Garmin being made for cars while Dynon is IFR certified. Also learned my base/clear was bound to peal off on the way home, and my angle valve isn't really suited for an RV. It really is an experience standing next to your plane for a week of Oshkosh! I am happy to report not one kid stood on my wheel pants or played trampoline on my empennage. I was waiting for a kid to show an interest so I could put him in the pilot seat and have him fire up the panel but alas no such opportunity arose.
On Friday I received a letter from EAA inviting me to the awards ceremony, which arrived a short time after my buddies played a prank with a fake official letter inviting me to attend a metal workshop at Oshkosh to improve myself and offering that I should leave prior to the ceremony. My buddies...not to worry, I will get even. In any event, I did get the real letter and on Saturday night received....
The weather got nasty again on Sunday and prevented my departure prior to the airshow which didn't break my heart.
So my plane's first Oshkosh is in the books and I came away from it amazed by the people involved in our hobby and with knowledge of how to improve my bird for next year. Those Lindy's really do look pretty cool...see ya next year Rick. It will be a little harder finding the faults next time!
Bright and early Monday morning the judges descended on my new bird.
We build these wonderful flying contraptions surrounded by our friends and as our friends they tell us what a beautiful job we do but 21 judges signing the card are not our friends and these experts don't pull any punches. Later in the day a judge arrived who went straight to every difficult part of the build. Another judge pointed out that this was the RV expert in their group, and I recognized the name Rick Gray from these forums. He had me unlock the controls and raise the flaps and really took my plane apart. It's humbling when a real expert finds every one of our missteps. He couldn't have been nicer about everything though and it was obvious he was trying to help me improve my skills. After pointing out a couple dozen heartbreaking errors, he shook my hand and told me I really built a beautiful bird. What a great guy, as were all the judges.
I stayed at the plane all week and met more people than I thought possible. What a great community of people we have in this RV hobby of ours. There were some characters too of course as I was informed that I should have gone Dynon instead of Garmin due to Garmin being made for cars while Dynon is IFR certified. Also learned my base/clear was bound to peal off on the way home, and my angle valve isn't really suited for an RV. It really is an experience standing next to your plane for a week of Oshkosh! I am happy to report not one kid stood on my wheel pants or played trampoline on my empennage. I was waiting for a kid to show an interest so I could put him in the pilot seat and have him fire up the panel but alas no such opportunity arose.
On Friday I received a letter from EAA inviting me to the awards ceremony, which arrived a short time after my buddies played a prank with a fake official letter inviting me to attend a metal workshop at Oshkosh to improve myself and offering that I should leave prior to the ceremony. My buddies...not to worry, I will get even. In any event, I did get the real letter and on Saturday night received....
The weather got nasty again on Sunday and prevented my departure prior to the airshow which didn't break my heart.
So my plane's first Oshkosh is in the books and I came away from it amazed by the people involved in our hobby and with knowledge of how to improve my bird for next year. Those Lindy's really do look pretty cool...see ya next year Rick. It will be a little harder finding the faults next time!