EAA Oshkosh
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Cool to see the birds, I live just north of there
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Good on you. Never been to it, but have wanted to go for about 20 years. Guess I need to get off my butt.
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I only went there once, traveled from Florida to Oshkosh in 1996 to get there. Been to Lakeland's Sun 'N Fun many times. Just as good even if it's not as big. Vendor displays at both are great but I think Sun 'N Fun has a better flea market which is interesting to walk thru and see the collection of used parts.
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756 Posts
I have many fond memories of my visit to EAA Oshkosh.
I flew out with my Dad in his 182 from NJ in '86.
Never forget flying over Lake Michigan. It looked like a giant pond to me on the map. Once we got out over it I thought I was over the Pacific! Lol.
We finally get to Oshkosh and the weather was dicey at best. They kept opening and closing the airport. It was a total shit show. Light aircraft were everywhere in the sky and everyone was trying to get in to Oshkosh. As we were on final a Stationair on floats lands directly in front of us without putting his gear down. It slids off the side of the runway into the grass, thankfully without flipping. They immediately close the airport and we are literately 25 yards away from landing ourselves. I said dad they just closed the airport and he didn't say a word to me and just put it down on the runway. It was crazy.
We slept at the dorms. No AC, I thought I was going to die of heatstroke. It was like sleeping in an oven!
We stayed mostly with the Warbird exhibit because a friend of my fathers was one of the pilots for the B-17 "909" at the time. That was a real treat.
The whole show was so exciting, but to me Leo Loudenslager (RIP) stole the show. I was awestruck by his aerobatic performance.
On our way home I was flying somewhere over Ohio and I drifted off to sleep at the controls. I woke up some time later and looked over and saw my Dad was sleeping too! I immediately started looking around at the instruments to try to figure out where we were. That's when I noticed my Dad peeking his one eye open at me. He had been awake the whole time. He pretended to be asleep when he saw me waking up. Lol
Like I said many fond memories of Oshkosh. If you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend it.
I flew out with my Dad in his 182 from NJ in '86.
Never forget flying over Lake Michigan. It looked like a giant pond to me on the map. Once we got out over it I thought I was over the Pacific! Lol.
We finally get to Oshkosh and the weather was dicey at best. They kept opening and closing the airport. It was a total shit show. Light aircraft were everywhere in the sky and everyone was trying to get in to Oshkosh. As we were on final a Stationair on floats lands directly in front of us without putting his gear down. It slids off the side of the runway into the grass, thankfully without flipping. They immediately close the airport and we are literately 25 yards away from landing ourselves. I said dad they just closed the airport and he didn't say a word to me and just put it down on the runway. It was crazy.
We slept at the dorms. No AC, I thought I was going to die of heatstroke. It was like sleeping in an oven!
We stayed mostly with the Warbird exhibit because a friend of my fathers was one of the pilots for the B-17 "909" at the time. That was a real treat.
The whole show was so exciting, but to me Leo Loudenslager (RIP) stole the show. I was awestruck by his aerobatic performance.
On our way home I was flying somewhere over Ohio and I drifted off to sleep at the controls. I woke up some time later and looked over and saw my Dad was sleeping too! I immediately started looking around at the instruments to try to figure out where we were. That's when I noticed my Dad peeking his one eye open at me. He had been awake the whole time. He pretended to be asleep when he saw me waking up. Lol
Like I said many fond memories of Oshkosh. If you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend it.
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That reminds me of the time flying co-pilot in a C-130 while in the USAF. We were flying from southern England to a NATO base in northern Norway, around a 6 hour flight. These flights could be boring and about 2 hours into the flight I looked around the cockpit and saw the pilot, navigator and flight engineer were all asleep. The auto-pilot was engaged but DAMN, the pilot never told me "the aircraft is yours" before he drifted off. You can bet your ass I didn't let myself get drowsy once I realized I was in charge by default.
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756 Posts
That reminds me of the time flying co-pilot in a C-130 while in the USAF. We were flying from southern England to a NATO base in northern Norway, around a 6 hour flight. These flights could be boring and about 2 hours into the flight I looked around the cockpit and saw the pilot, navigator and flight engineer were all asleep. The auto-pilot was engaged but DAMN, the pilot never told me "the aircraft is yours" before he drifted off. You can bet your ass I didn't let myself get drowsy once I realized I was in charge by default.
Lol, I guess it happens more often then we think.
Some years ago there was an entire crew I think it was United or American, anyway they all feel asleep, flew right past the west coast and ended up waking up out over the Pacific. I understand they barely made it back to land with their fuel reserve. :shock:
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Sun N Fun, while a good show, is no where near as big as Oshkosh. Been there a couple of times, too.
That’s cool
I love all that old stuff
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