Guy Prevost
Well Known Member
Every year, I block off Oshkosh week in my calendar. My wife has to plan vacation time a year in advance, so whether we go to Oshkosh or not, it's a great placeholder for some time off. This year, her work schedule changed, but I still had an open calendar for the first few days of the event. What to do? Go to Oshkosh!
Last time we went, the kids were 1 and 3 and both still in diapers. We camped in HBC. That was a bit too much of an adventure. This year I decided to take my now 5 year old son. I just didn't think I could handle both kids by myself, especially camping. About a week beforehand I pitched the idea to Ayrton, pointing out that since he was a good listener and a good stick he would get to fly left seat. (I fly from the right anyway.) He was beyond stoked--flying, camping, and his sister didn't get to go. I'll warn readers ahead of time. I really didn't take any airplane pictures. I took a few of some wonderful friends, but this trip was really about the first father-son adventure. Our plane was a huge part of that, but this trip to Osh, more than any previous for me was truly about people.
As the week progressed, mom and I built hype. Ayrton had recently had his first Root Beer. I let him know that at Oshkosh they take a big cup of root beer and then they put ICE CREAM IN IT!!!! Mind blown. I involved him in packing throughout the week. We took the back seats out of the 10, leaving ample room for camping gear, a full ice chest and 5 gallons of water. The latter was because we were still 500 lbs under gross with it and it moved the cg aft (to mid range) for a little more speed. He laid out his clothes for the trip the night before. When I woke him at 0430 Sunday morning, he was dressed and ready in less than 10 minutes. Impressed dad.
We were ready for engine start a little before sunrise: Ayrton didn't want his photo taken:
Once airborne he took the stick for a bit
Until he engaged his autopilot and immersed himself in a movie:
Snoopy did a fine job.![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
We stopped for fuel in Wayne, NE. I had one of the delicious sandwiches they graciously provided, while my little dude munched a PB&J we had packed and some Doritos.
We launched a few minutes after a flight of 3 Bonanzas. As I watched them on ADSB, I eventually called them by N-number on air-to-air. They were on frequency and we chatted as we slowly passed them burning 5gph less. I know this because they asked what my FF was. As the cloud cover thickened, we eventually were forced to 2500' in the heat and the bumps. Still a nice flight though.
One trip around the lake at Ripon, let us know that the remainder of the flight in was outside of my risk/reward profile. We bailed to Portage. I was busy, but a friend captured this photo from about the same time period. It got worse.
Last time we went, the kids were 1 and 3 and both still in diapers. We camped in HBC. That was a bit too much of an adventure. This year I decided to take my now 5 year old son. I just didn't think I could handle both kids by myself, especially camping. About a week beforehand I pitched the idea to Ayrton, pointing out that since he was a good listener and a good stick he would get to fly left seat. (I fly from the right anyway.) He was beyond stoked--flying, camping, and his sister didn't get to go. I'll warn readers ahead of time. I really didn't take any airplane pictures. I took a few of some wonderful friends, but this trip was really about the first father-son adventure. Our plane was a huge part of that, but this trip to Osh, more than any previous for me was truly about people.
As the week progressed, mom and I built hype. Ayrton had recently had his first Root Beer. I let him know that at Oshkosh they take a big cup of root beer and then they put ICE CREAM IN IT!!!! Mind blown. I involved him in packing throughout the week. We took the back seats out of the 10, leaving ample room for camping gear, a full ice chest and 5 gallons of water. The latter was because we were still 500 lbs under gross with it and it moved the cg aft (to mid range) for a little more speed. He laid out his clothes for the trip the night before. When I woke him at 0430 Sunday morning, he was dressed and ready in less than 10 minutes. Impressed dad.
We were ready for engine start a little before sunrise: Ayrton didn't want his photo taken:
![2018072621020768-IMG_9472-XL.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-zzz5B6t%2F0%2Fecabb251%2FXL%2F2018072621020768-IMG_9472-XL.jpg&hash=cdfe398498a2e8337fe45205b881a149)
Once airborne he took the stick for a bit
![2018072621020768-IMG_9479-XL.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-pdPnPfh%2F0%2F6d00b644%2FXL%2F2018072621020768-IMG_9479-XL.jpg&hash=ea1cf0ddbd9ad048ee90db1b0040c3ab)
Until he engaged his autopilot and immersed himself in a movie:
![2018072621020768-IMG_9492-XL.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-SqVp8Wx%2F0%2F924d5f47%2FXL%2F2018072621020768-IMG_9492-XL.jpg&hash=85d3727824aa753464e217522e8ccbc3)
Snoopy did a fine job.
We stopped for fuel in Wayne, NE. I had one of the delicious sandwiches they graciously provided, while my little dude munched a PB&J we had packed and some Doritos.
![2018072621020768-IMG_9497-XL.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-W59gztZ%2F0%2Fe7a97d4d%2FXL%2F2018072621020768-IMG_9497-XL.jpg&hash=4ed33db3bbc33eabd153ecadd7a8e218)
![2018072621020768-IMG_9499-XL.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-Cmg9KTP%2F0%2F6998b5f8%2FXL%2F2018072621020768-IMG_9499-XL.jpg&hash=f59a3d832dd41c8f63fefd5be96bce07)
We launched a few minutes after a flight of 3 Bonanzas. As I watched them on ADSB, I eventually called them by N-number on air-to-air. They were on frequency and we chatted as we slowly passed them burning 5gph less. I know this because they asked what my FF was. As the cloud cover thickened, we eventually were forced to 2500' in the heat and the bumps. Still a nice flight though.
![2018072621020768-IMG_9503-XL.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-tj5k8BQ%2F0%2Fb48e405b%2FXL%2F2018072621020768-IMG_9503-XL.jpg&hash=08e3936e050d098f5a4fe7ae5efd606c)
One trip around the lake at Ripon, let us know that the remainder of the flight in was outside of my risk/reward profile. We bailed to Portage. I was busy, but a friend captured this photo from about the same time period. It got worse.
![2018072621101177-IMG_9523-L.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2FVacation%2FOshkosh-2018%2Fi-QQF6MXP%2F0%2Fae723dd3%2FL%2F2018072621101177-IMG_9523-L.jpg&hash=9fbd3475fbb57822ed7abbd988fddff9)