N282RV

Well Known Member
So I have the good fortune of "having to go to Oshkosh" for work and I got to bring the family via SR-22. Our Honda Odyssey was brought up by one of the guys I work with. While we were trying to get to our vehicle we started walking from Aeroshell Square to Camper Registration to meet our vehicle. Once inside the camp grounds a golf cart pulled up with an older guy on it and a voice said "you want a ride, where are you going" Of course we take the offer and when I turn to get on the golf cart I see that is non other than Paul Poberezny!!!!!! Are you kidding me!! I have heard of such a thing but it only happens to other people. My wife and oldest daughter are in the front seat with Paul and Im in the back with my youngest daughter and I am beside myself. I asked him where Red One was and he said " I dont know". I was wondering if my wife caught what I had asked him. I then tapped her on the shoulder and mouthed to here that it was P-a-u-l. She looked at him then me like OMG. We chatted about the "seaplane" campgrounds, My wife said she brought her snorkle and Paul thought that was funny. A young boy with a phone texting walked in front of us and Paul noticed he did not even look up so we started going toward the boy and when we got withing about 2 ft the boy looks up startled of course and Paul tells him he almost got run over. We got to camper/swimmer registration and I asked if the girls could have a picture with him as it was their first OSH he of course obliged. I dont get wound up about celebrities but I must say that was really cool.
Thanks Paul that put the icing on our first trip as a family to OSH.
 
OSH-- glad it's over.

A young boy with a phone texting walked in front of us and Paul noticed he did not even look up so we started going toward the boy and when we got withing about 2 ft the boy looks up startled of course and Paul tells him he almost got run over.

That's awesome!! I've had the good fortune of talking with Paul a couple of times and that is SO something he'd do.

I too have to go to OSH for work now. In some ways it's great because it doesn't cost me anything, and I actually GAIN vacation time for it. But sitting in the heat and trying to sell airplanes in today's economy is not very fun, unless your name is Dick VanGrunsven.

Speaking of Van, I got to meet him this year and he autographed my RV-3 preview-plans three-view!! :D That, and my first OSH arrival as PIC after 22 years of wishing & dreaming or riding right seat, were the highlights of my week.
 
Live Bait

My wife and I were wondering around the War Birds and came across an old guy being interviewed about the P-51 that was painted in his honor called "Live Bait". He was a WWII Ace having shot down 8.5 Nazi aircraft. He told the story of the 5th kill and how he had to dive though clouds to confirm the kill. "There could have been mountains in there, but I had to know!" Then he pointed to the sky and with a tear in his eye said; "I'm sorry." as he pondered the soul of the man he surely killed. I tried to change the subject and asked him if he celebrated with a beer or two the evening of his getting the 5th kill. "Beer? Heck no ....... I am a Bourbon man."

He also told how he got his name "Live Bait". He would fly low & slow and try and draw enemy fighters so his buddies could jump them.

When I asked him if he had any idea of what he was accomplishing by kicking Hilter's butt, he said, "We were just doing our job so we could come home." He spent the next 50 years as a dentist, husband, & father.

It was worth the trip to OSH just to meet this man and see his eyes light up when he walked around the newly painted "Live Bait" P-51D.
 
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I was working our booth again this year, but for the first time the wife and kids came with me (yes, real live Oshkosh virgins!). My wife is a nervous flyer and doesn't share my enthusiasm for aviation, but she actually enjoyed herself (more than I expected). She liked the Warbirds, and was impressed with the airshows and the shear size of the place.

My daughter seems to have caught the aviation bug and expressed an interest in learning to fly. I got a nice video of her in the left seat of an SR-22 at the Cirrus exhibit. Her favorite moment though was seeing an inch worm on a picnic table when we had lunch, the kids had never seen one before.

They had a small world moment while waiting in line for a ride in the helicopter (yes only the kids would do it, the wife stayed on the ground). She forgot her camera, but while waiting in line she struck up a conversation with a man and his son. Turns out he was an RV builder who purchased a pair of our 1600 lights that I did a custom mod on per his request, and he took pictures and emailed them to me!

It was a fun year for me. My highlight was seeing the V-22 which I had never had a chance to see in person before.

Dean Wilkinson
CTO, AeroLEDs LLC