Opportunity Lost
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I liked that last part. It was the opportunity of a life time You, Bob Mills and I'm sure several others felt the same way but at least you two guys chose the higher ground and were where you should have been. Well OK, I'm not so sure about you Brian, couldn't you have told your wife that Mitchell was Oshkosh - she hadn't been there before, just another airport, right...
Seriously, i tried to talk a guy visiting from Yankton in his RV-9 with a Subaru engine into flying in the RV Red Class. It had ZERO entries. He would have gotten a 1st Place Trophy, set a new class record and he would have been famous forever with his name passed from RV builder/pilot to RV builder/pilot with great reverence. I could see in his eyes that he was seriously going through the "what will I lose if I do this thought process" as his tall good looking female companion (wife?) walked up but alas he chose the path traveled by many.
I wish you, Bob Mills, Garry Wilcox, Tom Martin, Wayne Hadath, Bill Beaton, Jason Rovey, Jerry Hajek, Gary Shelley, Ken Krebaum, Mark Fredick, Mike Thompson, James Redmon, Bobby Bennett, Ann Elise Bennett, Alan Crawford, Dennis Collins, Red Hamilton, Marilyn Boese, Terry Hines, Harry Hinckley, Tom Moore, Chris Murphy, James Porter, Rhea Sherwood, Duncan Southerland, Ernie Sutter, Bob Vasey and the rest of the usual suspects could have been there. It was the absolute best opportunity to fly fast that I have ever seen - God it was great! Eric Whyte and his teamed pulled triumph out of chaos. Sorry you all missed it.
Bob Axsom