Re: Oshkosh 2003 Redux

[Peter R.]

Jay Honeck ) wrote:

<snip>
> - Once again Oshkosh was heaven on earth for one week, and the ONLY place to
> be during the last week of July. Our 21st consecutive Oshkosh was as
> fabulous as the first -- better, since we now know a bunch of you guys and
> gals! -- and we're already making plans to attend again NEXT year...

Jay, thank you very much for providing your Oshkosh experiences here. The
Lightspeed story was apropos, given all that I have been through as well.

With all of the rain and t-storms there, you were able to leave VFR? I was
watching the weather closely the last few days and noticed line after line
of storms in the area of Oshkosh.

--
Peter












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[Jay Honeck]

> With all of the rain and t-storms there, you were able to leave VFR? I
was
> watching the weather closely the last few days and noticed line after line
> of storms in the area of Oshkosh.

Yep -- it rained every day we were there!

We departed yesterday knowing (from our North 40 FAA weather briefing) that
there was a line of showers/storms stretching North/South down the state
about 60 miles west of OSH. The radar was your typical summer shot of
popcorn -- showers appearing and building out of no where, and then
dissipating just as quickly. They weren't moving east much, just kind of
developing in place.

We launched figuring we'd be able to slide down the east side of the line,
and eventually pick our way west in between the cells. In the Midwest, in
summer, when faced with a disorganized line of storms (and with a good
ceiling of at least 2500 feet), this is quite doable.

Of course we called Flight Service in the air, who immediately advised us to
"land in Madison for a weather briefing, as things look tough ahead for
you". We were just east of Madison at that time, could see one big cell
bearing down on Madison, with clear all around. We thanked him very much,
bid him adieu, and simply flew around the cell.

With one or two more minor diversions, we were home free. Didn't see another
cloud until we arrived at Iowa City, where there was yet ANOTHER summer
storm cell sitting over the airport. It moved on just in time for Mary to
land on the wet runway.

Typical August flying around here.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[John T]

"newsman" > wrote in message
news:5815109.e8pYJrlQiE@loopback
>
> Not to be too much of a wet blanket...

Speaking of wet blankets, would you *please* trim your posts in the future?
:)

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/tknoFlyer
__________

[Jay Honeck]

> This was a different OSH for me... the first year with kids in tow.

Boy, John, you sure nailed that on the head.

I remember coming to OSH in the early 80s, just Mary and me riding a
Kawasaki 750. (Brought my first propeller home lashed to Mary's backrest on
the bike!) We could walk, and walk, and gawk, almost running from plane to
plane. I was a pilot wannabe, and Mary was fairly indifferent to flying --
boy did that change!

Then, along came the kids. First in the back-pack, then one in the pack and
the wagon -- then BOTH in the wagon. We were suddenly able to only cover
25% of what we could once see, and the show became totally different for us.

Now, at 9 and 12, the pace is picking up again. Soon, they'll be able to
run from plane to plane, and I'll be too old and tired!

Life is a river, eh?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
"john smith" > wrote in message
...
> My kids and I had a great time at the North 40 Festival 2003.
> Sorry I didn't join everyone at Friar Tuck's, we had just come from
> dinner at the Hilton prior to arriving at the party.
> I enjoyed meeting everyone. I wish that Colonel Jim had been in
> attendance so we could have "roasted" the non attendees.
They
> enjoyed KidVenture, the Beluga and the NASA building, but didn't have
> any patience for the "Dad stuff". My son had his first Polish sausage
> and kept asking to go back for more.
> The worst thing that happened was my daughter losing her bandana in the
> Wright Flyer tent. That took alot of consoling to bring her out of her
> depression. I was fortunate to be at my campsite when the windstorm hit
> on Tuesday afternoon. I managed to get the tarp off my wing before it
> got whipped to shreds. I learned my lesson last year and bought the
> heavy duty, reinforced eyelet model this year. I need to get a bigger
> one for next year.
> Jay had a good location in front of the Hilton... perfect for displaying
> the Alexis Park Inn banner.
> WalMart should fire the real-estate person who moved the store two miles
> down the road. Why anyone would give up sales in the middle of summer
> that probably outdo Christmas is beyond comprehension. Target reaped the
> gain, selling out of sleeping bags, tents, and coolers and restocking
> quickly.
> I did things differently this year. Instead of sleeping bags, I brought
> fleece blankets and sleeping pads. This worked really well and required
> less space in the airplane. The bulky item was the stove and propane
> tank. It was heavy and took up space, but it paid off when it came to
> cooking meals and cleaning up. Fresh food was purchased from Piggly
> Wiggly each afternoon following the airshow.
> We walked the length of the flightline, from "North Fond du Lac" to the
> Warbirds. Wednesday, the airport was full!
> Looking at what was on the field Sunday night, I didn't think attendance
> would be as good as it was. Monday and Tuesday brought alot of arrivals.
> The rains which began Tuesday afternoon and continued each afternoon and
> evening thereafter, lead to many premature departures Thursday, Friday
> and Saturday. My tent, clothes and campsite stayed dry throughout as I
> was on the high ground.
> I need to point my airplane the other way next year so I can see the
> runway from under the tarp. It's the small touches that make the
> difference.

[Jay Honeck]

> What I want to know is what he said about fixing the quality control and
design
> problems?

Lightspeed appears to have re-designed almost everything. The headband is
different, so it won't break. The battery box is completely re-designed,
and now comes with a little plastic "holster" that can be clipped (or
permanently mounted) to the side panel. This takes the weight of the
batteries off the wires, and sure looks nicer than the paperclip kludge I
came up with...

The ear pieces are now made of a different material that supposedly won't
delaminate from the underlying foam. The microphone is a bit different --
maybe it won't loosen up and flop down so easily.

They've even addressed the "tinny music" issue, which I had never even
complained about, by adding a "bass-boost" and a "treble boost" button on
the battery box. This feature makes formerly ANR-corrupted music sound much
closer to normal.

We'll see if he comes through, but I'm fairly impressed so far...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Grumman-581]

"John T" wrote ...
> Speaking of wet blankets, would you *please* trim your posts in the
future?

Agreed... Why is it that some people see fit to quote a long post, just to
put a "Me too" at the end of it? Is it so difficult to just snip out the
relative parts that you are replying to? Laziness, probably...

Plus, by creative snipping, you can take something completely out of context
and have more fun with it... <grin>

[Morgans]

"newsman" > wrote
very little, without trimming a bit.

I say, TRIM when you reply, man!
--
---Jim in NC---

[Jim Fisher]

"Grumman-581" > wrote in message
...
> "John T" wrote ...
> > Speaking of wet blankets, would you *please* trim your posts in the
> future?
>
> Agreed... Why is it that some people see fit to quote a long post, just to
> put a "Me too" at the end of it? Is it so difficult to just snip out the
> relative parts that you are replying to? Laziness, probably...
>
> Plus, by creative snipping, you can take something completely out of
context
> and have more fun with it... <grin>
>
>












Me too.

--
Jim Fisher

[Jim Fisher]

"john smith" > wrote in message

Fresh food was purchased from Piggly
> Wiggly each afternoon following the airshow.

Speaking of that, did you hear the news that Dolly Parton was buying up all
the Big Star, Piggly Wiggly's, and Harris Teeter stores up there around
Wisconsin?

Yes, she plans to put them all under one name: Big Wiggly Teeters

--
Jim Fisher

[MLenoch]

>From: "Jay Honeck"

>Hey -- you guys looked GREAT in the show, by the way...

Thanks. Hopefully we'll have more participants next year!!
VL

[Snowbird]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message news:<b0yXa.64573$Ho3.9416@sccrnsc03>...
> > What I want to know is what he said about fixing the quality control and
> > design problems?

> Lightspeed appears to have re-designed almost everything. The headband is
> different, so it won't break. The battery box is completely re-designed,
> and now comes with a little plastic "holster" that can be clipped (or
> permanently mounted) to the side panel. <.....>

All true. The 30-3G is a redesign.

However, judging from Peter R's experience with sending back
3 different headsets, and judging from my experience having
a battery box which shorted out less than a month after receiving
the headset, the QC issues could still use some work.

The point of my other post was, it is nice that the President of
Lightspeed offered you a free headset. It will be nice for you
if he comes through.

But there are plenty of other folks out there who spent comparable
amounts of money on Lightspeed Headsets to you and Mary (ourselves
amoung them, we own 3) and who are having recurrant problems, and
what are they doing for us?

I have to say it, and if you'll send me the guy's name and address
I'll say it to him: we're very concerned that we've spent more than
$1000 on comfortable headsets which we enjoy very much, but which
are going to keep breaking, and that the great service and support
to fix them will only be around as long as the company is.

If they don't fix their QC issues and do *something* for their
(current crop of) loyal customers who keep having to send in their
headsets for repair, how long is that going to be?

IMHO they need to do something beyond "supply the occasional free
headset to a guy in the right place at the right time". They need
to come up with (at least an attempt) at a retrograde fix for the
20K, 20XL, and 25XL design problems.

Cheers,
Sydney

[Blueskies]

We had a lot of hail around those boomers, some as big as golf balls, and some leaving 2" of pea sized on the ground.
Gotta watch those temps aloft...

--
Dan D.



..
"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message news:swtXa.62680$uu5.6087@sccrnsc04...
> > With all of the rain and t-storms there, you were able to leave VFR? I
> was
> > watching the weather closely the last few days and noticed line after line
> > of storms in the area of Oshkosh.
>
> Yep -- it rained every day we were there!
>
> We departed yesterday knowing (from our North 40 FAA weather briefing) that
> there was a line of showers/storms stretching North/South down the state
> about 60 miles west of OSH. The radar was your typical summer shot of
> popcorn -- showers appearing and building out of no where, and then
> dissipating just as quickly. They weren't moving east much, just kind of
> developing in place.
>
> We launched figuring we'd be able to slide down the east side of the line,
> and eventually pick our way west in between the cells. In the Midwest, in
> summer, when faced with a disorganized line of storms (and with a good
> ceiling of at least 2500 feet), this is quite doable.
>
> Of course we called Flight Service in the air, who immediately advised us to
> "land in Madison for a weather briefing, as things look tough ahead for
> you". We were just east of Madison at that time, could see one big cell
> bearing down on Madison, with clear all around. We thanked him very much,
> bid him adieu, and simply flew around the cell.
>
> With one or two more minor diversions, we were home free. Didn't see another
> cloud until we arrived at Iowa City, where there was yet ANOTHER summer
> storm cell sitting over the airport. It moved on just in time for Mary to
> land on the wet runway.
>
> Typical August flying around here.
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>
>

[Jay Honeck]

> Thanks. Hopefully we'll have more participants next year!!

Yeah, it did seems a bit "thin" this year for Mustangs -- but those who flew
were great!

BTW: Whatever happened to the Mustang that was "venting coolant" on Friday?
(Or was it Saturday?) This was the guy who was supposed to be in the
"missing man" formation, but had to land instead. (I was listening on the
hand held, and heard the whole incident -- but not the end result.)

The Air Boss sure cleared the runway for him to land without delay!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Scott Marquardt]

Jay Honeck wrote:

> Mary and I just returned from six glorious days camped next to Atlas on the
> field in Oshkosh! We're tired, sunburned, our feet hurt -- and damn, if
> we didn't want to stay another week or three...

Yup.

I hadn't been back for years, and it was good to bring my kids. A lot
of highlights, but I guess it was good to cap it all off at Sunday's
session with Burt Rutan. Iconoclastic as ever, he offered a persuasive
argument contrasting the space program's historic trajectory with that
of aviation in its early days. The R&D timeline's empty space to the
right of the shuttle and Soyuz in his power point presentation was the
coup de grace, IMO.

We'd never camped at OSH, so it was fun to get a spot on 56th, a
stone's throw from vintage and conveniently near the Farm. What
fortune -- in contrast with the misfortune of waking up in a tent
floating westward past 35th on Wed. night. Heck, that meant we had to
dash a quarter mile back just to get to our ark for the night (5
people in a ford minivan). [no, not even my exaggeration tops your
story; are you sure your tent wasn't just trying to qualify for use as
a parafoil at the Farm?]

> - Almost saw a disaster, though, when a Mustang taxied out in front of
> landing traffic on RWY 27. Amazingly, the Mustang driver simply firewalled
> it and actually OUT-accelerated the Cessna (that was trying land OVER him),
> and took off in front of him. Boy, it was close, though...

There was one more. I believe it was Julie Clark whose Saturday flight
scared the crap out of me. Coming down just in front of us a couple
hundred yards left of center, she disappeared below the runway
(heading north), apparently clipping the grass on its east side. I
couldn't see even a piece of her for a moment. Everything got real
quiet for a bit, and no one wanted to say much for a while.

I'm darned glad that Velocity was the only real incident -- but I
didn't know it was a Velocity till you posted that. Figures. I'm an
inactive pilot with a hankerin' -- someday when I can afford it -- to
build that plane.

Till then, maybe I'll strap one of those fans on my back, like I saw
up at the Farm. I can probably afford that once I have my daughter
past college, following her brothers. Let's see, she's 5 now...

- Scott

[Montblack]

Buy her an old used set of encyclopedias (1950's - 1980's) at a garage sale.
Sure, most of the African countries have new names, here in the 21st
century.

The point is, Daddy wants to fly ...now!! Let her get her own darn
scholarship. :-)

--
Montblack

("Scott Marquardt" wrote)
> Till then, maybe I'll strap one of those fans on my back, like I saw
> up at the Farm. I can probably afford that once I have my daughter
> past college, following her brothers. Let's see, she's 5 now...

[Jay Honeck]

> There was one more. I believe it was Julie Clark whose Saturday flight
> scared the crap out of me. Coming down just in front of us a couple
> hundred yards left of center, she disappeared below the runway
> (heading north), apparently clipping the grass on its east side. I
> couldn't see even a piece of her for a moment. Everything got real
> quiet for a bit, and no one wanted to say much for a while.

Hey, we saw that too! My son and I were walking along the flight line,
kinda half-watching the show (I've seen Clark fly, like, a jillion times),
when I saw her pull up WAY late.

I, too, thought she was going to belly in, but she made it -- somehow. I
figured it must've been an optical illusion, cuz it looked like she couldn't
have been more than a foot or two off the grass.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[nafod40]

Jay Honeck wrote:

> Mary and I just returned from six glorious days camped next to Atlas
> on the field in Oshkosh! We're tired, sunburned, our feet hurt --
> and damn, if we didn't want to stay another week or three...

Just got back too. Third time there, but first time working a booth as a
paid employee (of the US Navy, Hanger B). I'd volunteered once, and been
a tourist the other.

Thoughts:

Segway - I was bummed they were charging you to ride it, because I wanted
to. I had a great idea for a new sport. Segway jousting. Each party has
ten foot poles with a pillow on the end. If the Segway gyros are too
quick to ever let you fall, make it Segway Chicken Fight Jousting.

Rocket Powered Waco - I love that thing. The best airshow I saw was the
Masters of Disaster, when the three biplanes just flew around in a big
furball. It was the only show I saw that made me want to jump in an
airplane and join them.

Storms - Never mind the tornadoes, I thought a hurricane was coming that
one night (Tuesday night?) at zero-dark-thirty. I tied myself to a tree
and sacrificed a squirrel to the weather gods, averting disaster.

Planes - The pulse detonation engine and the fuel cell powered planes
were cool ideas. Some really nice Skybolts completed this year. A Hatz
again finished in the money (reserve grand champion plans built). Cool.

Food - costs too damn much.

Museum - Very nice!

I had a great time and was exhausted by the end. Can't wait for next
year!

**************

Mike

[Sydney Hoeltzli]

nafod40 wrote:

> Segway - I was bummed they were charging you to ride it, because I wanted
> to. I had a great idea for a new sport. Segway jousting. Each party has
> ten foot poles with a pillow on the end. If the Segway gyros are too
> quick to ever let you fall, make it Segway Chicken Fight Jousting.

Mike -- you should write the company and suggest this. Sales would
skyrocket. People are always willing to pay more for their fun. Look
at that weekend-warrior paintball stuff.

Best,
Sydney

[Big John]

mlenoch

Didn't see the venting but:

'51 normally vented on TO if run started with too high a coolant
temperature (taxied out with doors closed). Rule was that if you
popped off, you returned and landed (even if venting stopped) as there
was no way to tell how much you vented and with low coolant, engine
could overheat.

If bird continued to vent around the pattern then the coolant was low
and running hot and at a high enough pressure to keep the 'pop off'
valve open or valve not closing after opening (spring loaded valve).
Pressure to unseat valve and open was greater than pressure to keep
open.

Or. If bird 'popped off', then the valve could stick open since there
was not anyway we could check it on a routine basis. Never heard of a
pop off with engine coolant temperature in the operating range. Valve
had a fixed pressure setting that could not be adjusted by crew chief.

It was a low maintenance item on bird.

I saw a few 'pop offs' in my three year in the Sq but never saw or
heard of one that stuck open.

With the age of the birds today however and an original 'pop off'
valve, it well could stick open after popping off. Like a PRV on a
water heater in your house. Don't leak unless it opens to relieve
pressure and then does not fully close due to build up on seat.

Bottom line is glad he made it around and back on ground OK. It is
enough of a potential emergency to warrant landing priority.

Big John
650 hrs in '51


On 05 Aug 2003 04:08:05 GMT, (MLenoch) wrote:

>>BTW: Whatever happened to the Mustang that was "venting coolant" on Friday?
>>(Or was it Saturday?)
>
>Saturday. He was indeed venting. His pressure relief valve let go too soon
>(at too low a pressure). A simple fix to get a new valve, gasket or do a
>repair. He may be home by now.
>VL

[Jim Weir]

Respectfully disagree. The Vertex/Yaesu got one of our "BEST OF SHOW" awards
this year for doing things the Icom can only dream of.

Jim



"Jay Honeck" >
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

->
->- The ICOM A-5 handheld com radio is the best portable com available. (It's
->actually smaller and lighter than just the BATTERY of my old A-21!) I bought
->one, even though it meant busting my budget...


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

[john smith]

nafod40 wrote:
> Just got back too. Third time there, but first time working a booth as a
> paid employee (of the US Navy, Hanger B). I'd volunteered once, and been
> a tourist the other.

If you were part of the NavAir booth, my hats off to you guys!
You had some really good give-aways!
My kids an I really appreciated the carabiners and my daughter cannot
wait to use the glow stick.
Thanks!

[Robert Perkins]

On 4 Aug 2003 23:22:08 -0700, (Scott Marquardt)
wrote:

>Yup.
>
>I hadn't been back for years, and it was good to bring my kids.

Well, whaddayaknow.

You getting back in the left seat, Scott?

Rob

[Jay Honeck]

> Respectfully disagree. The Vertex/Yaesu got one of our "BEST OF SHOW"
awards
> this year for doing things the Icom can only dream of.

Dang -- I KNEW we shoulda made it to your forum! :)

What's it do that's so cool? (Heck, my ICOM even records transmissions for
later listening!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jim Weir]

It is a geek thing. It has both AM for the aircraft band, FM for amateur
2-meters, the whole FM broadcast band AND a spectrum analyzer to see what
channels either side of the one you are on are being used.

I gotta agree, that digital recorder is a pretty nice feature also.

Jim



"Jay Honeck" >
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

->> Respectfully disagree. The Vertex/Yaesu got one of our "BEST OF SHOW"
->awards
->> this year for doing things the Icom can only dream of.
->
->Dang -- I KNEW we shoulda made it to your forum! :)
->
->What's it do that's so cool? (Heck, my ICOM even records transmissions for
->later listening!)


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

[MLenoch]

>Big John
>650 hrs in '51
>

Hey Big John........What "N" number did you fly?
Thx,
VL

[Greg Burkhart]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:e6kXa.59188$o%2.29570@sccrnsc02...
> Mary and I just returned from six glorious days camped next to Atlas on
the
> field in Oshkosh! We're tired, sunburned, our feet hurt -- and damn, if
> we didn't want to stay another week or three...

This was my first trek to Oshkosh. Here's my own recollections (probably not
in any particular order either):

-Drove over to OSH on Wednesday. Arrived about 8PM, parked at Piggly Wiggly
and entered the N40 to look for Jay's plane. Walked on the north side up to
the Hilton when I ran into someone and asked where I could find a plane.
They told me to go back around to the south side and check with
registration. Got to the registration area and found it was closed. Started
walking up and down the rows looking at the N-numbers and see if I
recognized any. Gave up after about 60 rows or so and went to Friar Tucks
for a few beers then returned to my car to sleep for the night. Needed the
beers to get sleep in the driver's seat of a Miata!

-Awoke Thursday to the sounds of aircraft taking off about 6:20 AM and went
into Piggly Wiggly for something for breakfast and get some spending cash.
Re-entered the N40 and walked to the registration to find that Jay was
parked in row 567. Walked around to where Jay was and he suggested I move my
car to either the Super-8 or Hilton and it would be closer. I went back for
the car and took it over to the Hilton and got a cup of coffee. I had a
slight head ache from the beers from the night before (I wasn't flying
anyways!) and was sore from sleeping in the Miata. Jay recommended that I
could set up my tent next to Brian and Christina's (right?) plane. It would
be better sleeping horizontal on the hard ground than crumpled up in the car
again!

-Went back to the registration booth and paid $83 for EAA membership, 2-days
of the airshow, a program and a 'free' hat. Made a bee-line through the
warbirds to where EAA's B-17 was sitting. Looked around at some of the other
warbirds and made my way south. Found the tent that had the type-clubs and
listened for a bit to the Ercoupe club people talking about motor mounts
then asked them about the trim tab mod. I wandered around looking at the
various displays. Went through the venders hangars gawking at all the
goodies available wishing I had the money to buy some of these to upgrade my
plane.

-My cousin wanted me to check out the price of Condor tires while I was
there. Saw the Varga booth and found the 'Oshkosh' price. Spent most of
Thursday walking and looking. Got caught in one of the afternoon rain
showers and was in the AOPA tent at the time. AOPA gave out the plastic rain
ponchos to anyone that asked. Saw the EAA ponchos were being sold for $3.
Found the 'Reopen Meigs' tent and signed the petition -- for what it's
worth. Saw a bunch of other stuff Thursday afternoon and then finally
returned to the N40 and met up with the Alexis Park Inn party group and met
more people from the groups than were at the Pre-Oshkosh party. Had a few
'ground-softeners' then over to Friar Tucks. Slept better Thursday night
than I did the night before...

-Woke up again Friday morning to the sounds of aircraft taxiing and taking
off. Walked over to the showers and back to the camp site. Met with Jay's
family and we decided to go to the Hilton for breakfast. Great breakfast! I
tagged along with Jay's family for a while as we walked through the warbirds
again watching the P51/Cessna incident happening and over to the Fly Market
area. Jay and I went on to the vendor hangars, I was going to order the
tires for my cousin and he was searching for the Narco and Icom radios,
artworks, etc. We went back to the Fly Market to search for an allen wrench
so Jay could swap the Narco radios. After a while I wandered off and looked
around on my own at the Segways at $10 for a 10 minute demo, the 8 Ercoupes
parked in the vintage area and various other 'stuff'. I then walked down to
the south end to catch the bus for the Sea Plane Base for the Friday night
fish fry. Met Jay's family there and enjoyed watching the Russian sea plane,
the sea-ultralights, and looking over the hovercrafts. Heading back from the
sea-plane base, we watched a lot of the various ultralights coming in for
touch & goes then walked up the flight line towards Theatre in the Woods for
the Neil Armstrong talk. Also enjoyed the 13y/o violinist, etc., that
preceded Neil. Still don't know who the emcee was. Headed back to the N40
and had a ground softener and watched the space station pass over Oshkosh at
10:53.

-Left Saturday morning and did my non-Oshkosh stuff, headed to Mackinac, MI
for the weekend. Left there Monday about noon and drove across Wisconsin.
Found the geological marker that says '45°N and 90°W'. Taking out my GPS, it
said that point was 0.20 miles from where the plaque was. Stayed the night
in western Wisconsin and finally made it home this afternoon.

Conclusion:
Bring more money and spend more time! There are a lot of things that I
missed and wished I saw. Now that I have 'some' idea what Oshkosh is like, I
may attempt to fly there next year and spend more time (and money). Great to
meet some of the people from these groups!

-Greg Burkhart

[Jay Honeck]

> Conclusion:
> Bring more money and spend more time!

A) It is not possible to bring enough money.
B) It is not possible to spend enough time.

: )
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Scott Marquardt]

Robert Perkins asked:

> Well, whaddayaknow.
>
> You getting back in the left seat, Scott?

Hi Rob!

Heck, Oshkosh is, itself, a left seat. Just about as much fun. I'm
extremely pleased that my kids got to hear Bud, Chuck, Bob, Burt, and
all the others in person. For my part, an hour at the Farm (just
watching) is more fun than I have around Chicago in a year.

The issue is entirely cash, so no, I won't be in the left seat for a
good time to come. It's these dang kids! It's their fault!

Meanwhile, inspired by the rash of scooter designs plaguing urban
police forces and Oshkosh booths this year, I'm mulling over a new
ultralight design. Enough, already, with sedentary flying! How about
the ultimate -- a Segway with a prop!

If I won the lotto (unlikely, since I don't play it), it'd be the
Velocity. That determination hasn't changed since it won my affection
from the Q2 years ago (alas, Dave Thompson). Before the Q2 it was a
Mooney 201 I wanted, but that was just a childhood fantasy.

As I said to my kids of the paralite skycruisers, though, "I'd strap
one of those to my back anytime, anywhere."

Happy flying...

[Paul Dowgewicz]

Let's see, what can I add.

I did find out that if you get there after 5 PM, you get in free with
the next day's admission.

Listened to Yeager/Andersen/Roy Clark on Wed. night. Best moment was
earlier when someone got an award for his work with Young Eagles. He
went on for about 15 minutes and wasn't close to being done. Someone
whispered to him to wrap it up. He just abruptly said "Thank you" and
left. Does any organization give out more awards than EAA? I guess I
juat say that since I don't have one yet.

Parking at the Museum and taking the shuttle bus over works well most of
the time, but when the evening program gets over at 10 PM, I found the
busses don't run. Walked about 1/2 way. Then the storm started. I
guess you can only get so wet. After that it doesn't matter. Walking
across an open field with an umbrella probably wasn't a good idea.

On to better things. I didn't avoid eating on-site food. I heard the
fresh donuts were good, but I found them greaasy, and no bargain at
$1.25 each. I hate to say it, but McDonalds seems to have the best
on-site prices. I did make another convert to Culver's Butterburgers
though. I should work at starting a franchise in the New England.

The Orbis eye surgery DC-10 was impressive. I wouldn't think they would
need such a facility, but after taking the tour, I'm convinced they're
doing it right.

Listened to Burt Rutan talk about his sub-orbital project. One thing
that doesn't sound too good is that on reentry there will be a 15 sec.
time of a 5G load. The pilot needs to fly the craft during that time
too. Sounds like it's not for everybody yet.

Another unusual thing was the plane with the fan underneath powered by a
450 HP Mazda engine. I can't find its name right now.

Went to the web editor seminar. Held at the same time as Rod Machado,
but I figure I can hear him at AOPA in Oct. I was hoping to get more
tips on web content instead of how to set one up.

Also saw Dick Rutan's Voyager talk again which always reminds me of how
underachieving I am. I wanted to see Kent White do some magic with
aluminum, but didn't make it over.

Saw Scott Shields on the efforts of his rescue dog finding victims of
the WTC collapse. It was an amazing dog, but he was REALLY attached to
it.

Finally, I saw Richard Graham on the SR-71. I believe he said the
record to climb to 80,000 ft and accelerate to Mach 3 was 14 minutes.

EAA's streaming audio was nice to have on the days I wasn't able to be
there. It would have been nice to add the ATC for the day before the
show, but the price was still right.

[Dave Butler]

Just want to add my thanks to Jay for organizing the rec.aviation get-together,
and my apology for not making it. Maybe next year. Do it again, please, Jay?

My story in brief: arrived Tuesday afternoon before the airshow, amazed at the
number of planes there. It seemed more than any OSH I've been to before. I was
camped two down from the hole-in-the-fence by Friar Tuck's.

Missed Jim Weir's forum, but got to Richard Kaplan's, which was very well done.
Thanks, Richard.

Favorite show airplane: the Hughes Racer.

My tent leaked buckets. Memo-to-self: get new tent before next year.

Left Thursday around noon for my brother's in northern Michigan. Left there on
Friday afternoon, only to be stopped by tstorms in southern Michigan. Did an
unscheduled remain-overnight in Lansing.

What a great time! Now trying to catch up on work :-(

DGB

Jay Honeck wrote:
>>Conclusion:
>>Bring more money and spend more time!
>
>
> A) It is not possible to bring enough money.
> B) It is not possible to spend enough time.
>
> : )
Remove SHIRT to reply directly.

--
Dave Butler, software engineer 919-392-4367
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

[Ray Andraka]

My plane gained weight this year, and I only went by proxy (had someone buying an
engine monitor for me).

Margy Natalie wrote:

> Jay Honeck wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > The only casualty thus far: Our waist-lines. We actually GAINED weight at
> > Oshkosh -- something that has certainly never happened before!
>
> Gee, I always gain weight at OSH :-(
>
> Margy

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759