Oshkosh Pictures and The Story of The Missing Picture

[Longworth[_1_]]

This was our first Oshkosh trip. We camped for less than three days
but took lots of pictures and some videos. Here are the links to
images we took from Sunday July 23rd to Tuesday July 24th. The last
picture was taken at my brief meeting with some of the r.a.p regulars
at Jay Honeck's campsite. The dazed and crazed look on Jay's face
after the blinding flash convinced me to put my camera away ;-)

http://makeashorterlink.com/?U12A2148D

http://makeashorterlink.com/?E13A6448D

While reviewing the images, Rick told me that he wished we had taken a
picture of the DG while we were flying over Lake Erie enroute to
Oshkosh. Here is the story of the missing picture.

We delayed our Oshkosh bound trip until Sunday morning to wait for the
front to pass. All through Saturday until early Sunday, there were
quite a few of scattered thunderstorms. It was still quite hot and
humid when we departed at around 8am. Rick flew the first leg from
KPOU (Poughkeepsie, NY) to 8G2 (Corry, PA). After fueling both the
planes and ourselves, we put on our life jackets in preparation for the
flight over Lake Erie. The lake was at least 25nm away but it was
easier to don the jackets on the ground.

I was the PIC for the second leg from 8G2 to 3FM (Fremont, MI). We
cruised at 8000' with the OAT over 60F. The cabin felt much hotter
with the sun shining brightly from the East. After about 40 minutes of
flying with the life vest, I was hot and thirsty and reached for the
water bottle. Not sure whether the mouthful of water triggered some
reaction or it was just a coincidence, I felt a tickle in my nose and
had a spontaneous sneeze spraying water all over the instrument panel!
We watched in horror as the tiny rivulets of water made their way down
the panel. The most awful sight was the DG window. Within a few
seconds, the water had quickly seeped inside the glass by capillary
action forming tiny bubbles. The inside of the small round window was
filed with expanding and exploding bubbles! I searched the center
console in vain for some paper towels. With quick thinking, Rick
reached for the towel on the backseat yanking it from under piles of
approach charts and bags to wipe off the water. Everything dried off
quickly but we could not get the water out of the DG window. I thought
to myself "Oh my gosh, what have I done? We are flying over the
lake on an IFR flight plan and the DG is dying. How do I explain it to
ATC?" We nervously watched our DG heading, comparing it to the
compass and the GPS. The indicated heading barely visible under
bubbles inside the tiny cauldron still showed 290 plus or minus a few
degrees.

I did not remember how long that it took to cross Lake Erie but it
seemed like a long time. The water 8000 feet below us and the water
inside the DG got incorporated into my instrument scan with me trying
hard not to fixate on them. The numbers in the DG gradually became
clearer as the bubbles slowly coalesced into fewer and larger ones. By
the time we reached the other shore, most of them were gone. I felt a
few droplets of water on my knee. Not sure whether it was the water
dripping out from the DG or my own sweat bullets. The DG was still
rock solid. I felt a tremendous sense of relief. It was still hot and
humid. My throat was dry. I reached for the bottle of water again.
This time, I turned my head sideway, facing the copilot and not the
instrument panel ;-)

Hai Longworth
N30703

[Jim Burns]

Thanks for the great pics. What camera was used?
Sorry you could not stay for the party... next year!
Jim Burns

"Longworth" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> This was our first Oshkosh trip. We camped for less than three days
> but took lots of pictures and some videos. Here are the links to
> images we took from Sunday July 23rd to Tuesday July 24th. The last
> picture was taken at my brief meeting with some of the r.a.p regulars
> at Jay Honeck's campsite. The dazed and crazed look on Jay's face
> after the blinding flash convinced me to put my camera away ;-)
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?U12A2148D
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?E13A6448D
>
> While reviewing the images, Rick told me that he wished we had taken a
> picture of the DG while we were flying over Lake Erie enroute to
> Oshkosh. Here is the story of the missing picture.
>
> We delayed our Oshkosh bound trip until Sunday morning to wait for the
> front to pass. All through Saturday until early Sunday, there were
> quite a few of scattered thunderstorms. It was still quite hot and
> humid when we departed at around 8am. Rick flew the first leg from
> KPOU (Poughkeepsie, NY) to 8G2 (Corry, PA). After fueling both the
> planes and ourselves, we put on our life jackets in preparation for the
> flight over Lake Erie. The lake was at least 25nm away but it was
> easier to don the jackets on the ground.
>
> I was the PIC for the second leg from 8G2 to 3FM (Fremont, MI). We
> cruised at 8000' with the OAT over 60F. The cabin felt much hotter
> with the sun shining brightly from the East. After about 40 minutes of
> flying with the life vest, I was hot and thirsty and reached for the
> water bottle. Not sure whether the mouthful of water triggered some
> reaction or it was just a coincidence, I felt a tickle in my nose and
> had a spontaneous sneeze spraying water all over the instrument panel!
> We watched in horror as the tiny rivulets of water made their way down
> the panel. The most awful sight was the DG window. Within a few
> seconds, the water had quickly seeped inside the glass by capillary
> action forming tiny bubbles. The inside of the small round window was
> filed with expanding and exploding bubbles! I searched the center
> console in vain for some paper towels. With quick thinking, Rick
> reached for the towel on the backseat yanking it from under piles of
> approach charts and bags to wipe off the water. Everything dried off
> quickly but we could not get the water out of the DG window. I thought
> to myself "Oh my gosh, what have I done? We are flying over the
> lake on an IFR flight plan and the DG is dying. How do I explain it to
> ATC?" We nervously watched our DG heading, comparing it to the
> compass and the GPS. The indicated heading barely visible under
> bubbles inside the tiny cauldron still showed 290 plus or minus a few
> degrees.
>
> I did not remember how long that it took to cross Lake Erie but it
> seemed like a long time. The water 8000 feet below us and the water
> inside the DG got incorporated into my instrument scan with me trying
> hard not to fixate on them. The numbers in the DG gradually became
> clearer as the bubbles slowly coalesced into fewer and larger ones. By
> the time we reached the other shore, most of them were gone. I felt a
> few droplets of water on my knee. Not sure whether it was the water
> dripping out from the DG or my own sweat bullets. The DG was still
> rock solid. I felt a tremendous sense of relief. It was still hot and
> humid. My throat was dry. I reached for the bottle of water again.
> This time, I turned my head sideway, facing the copilot and not the
> instrument panel ;-)
>
> Hai Longworth
> N30703
>

[Morgans[_3_]]

"Longworth" > wrote

> The last
> picture was taken at my brief meeting with some of the r.a.p regulars
> at Jay Honeck's campsite. The dazed and crazed look on Jay's face
> after the blinding flash convinced me to put my camera away ;-)

That look on Jay's face? You're kidding! That is how he always look, after
he's had a couple cold ones!
<g>

Really, that is a classic look, isn't it!


> "Oh my gosh, what have I done? We are flying over the
> lake on an IFR flight plan and the DG is dying. How do I explain it to
> ATC?" We nervously watched our DG heading, comparing it to the
> compass and the GPS. The indicated heading barely visible under
> bubbles inside the tiny cauldron still showed 290 plus or minus a few
> degrees.

Too funny!
--
Jim in NC

[john smith]

Hai, you might want to consider submitting a few photos to AvWeb for
Picture of the Week

- (the first image) Lake St Claire
- Selfrige
- End of Day 1

I have overflown Lake St Claire many times, but that picture you took is
spectacular! The color of the water contrasting with the ground and
clouds is awesome!

[Jay Honeck]

> That look on Jay's face? You're kidding! That is how he always look, after
> he's had a couple cold ones!
> <g>
>
> Really, that is a classic look, isn't it!

Actually, I think Mary's look is even better!

:-)

It was great meeting you, Hai. I sure hope you drag Rick to the party
next year -- and I hope to get a glimpse of your beautiful Cardinal,
too...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Longworth[_1_]]

Jim Burns wrote:
> Thanks for the great pics. What camera was used?
> Sorry you could not stay for the party... next year!
> Jim Burns

Jim,
Most of the pics was shot with the Nikon D50 with an old 24-120mm
lens (we were on the 6-month waiting list for the 18-200mm VR DX lens).
Some of the shots were with the Panasonic PV-GS300 camcorder (not
great but convenient).

Rick's ankle pretty much wore out by the third day at Oshkosh and we
had a full traveling agenda so Wednesday morning departure sounded like
a good idea. After his suspenseful landing event at Oshkosh (had to go
around to avoid pancaking an experimental plane which missed his orange
dot and slowed to get off the runway to allow us to land on our green
dot), I'm not sure whether I can talk Rick to go back to Osh. However,
he is game to go to SnF so that we can say "been there, done that" ;-)

Hai

[Jim Burns[_1_]]

Hai and Rick,
Don't let a single landing event diswade you from coming back to OSH, there
are plenty of alternative airports a short distance from OSH. Some have
daily shuttles and offer on airport camping, it's just a matter of planning.
Jim

"Longworth" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Jim Burns wrote:
> > Thanks for the great pics. What camera was used?
> > Sorry you could not stay for the party... next year!
> > Jim Burns
>
> Jim,
> Most of the pics was shot with the Nikon D50 with an old 24-120mm
> lens (we were on the 6-month waiting list for the 18-200mm VR DX lens).
> Some of the shots were with the Panasonic PV-GS300 camcorder (not
> great but convenient).
>
> Rick's ankle pretty much wore out by the third day at Oshkosh and we
> had a full traveling agenda so Wednesday morning departure sounded like
> a good idea. After his suspenseful landing event at Oshkosh (had to go
> around to avoid pancaking an experimental plane which missed his orange
> dot and slowed to get off the runway to allow us to land on our green
> dot), I'm not sure whether I can talk Rick to go back to Osh. However,
> he is game to go to SnF so that we can say "been there, done that" ;-)
>
> Hai
>

[john smith]

In article om>,
"Longworth" > wrote:

> After his suspenseful landing event at Oshkosh (had to go
> around to avoid pancaking an experimental plane which missed his orange
> dot and slowed to get off the runway to allow us to land on our green
> dot), I'm not sure whether I can talk Rick to go back to Osh.

But now you know what to expect!
Your next trip will be less stressful and you will be ready for the
unexpected. SnF will be no different. Your OSH experience will be
usefull there, too.

[Longworth[_1_]]

john smith wrote:
> Your next trip will be less stressful and you will be ready for the
> unexpected. SnF will be no different. Your OSH experience will be
> usefull there, too.

john,

Yes, we expect SnF to be as challenging. We studied the NOTAMS
carefully, read as much as we could on Oshkosh experience and did some
Oshkosh-like patternworks few days before the trip. We were very
surprised to see that the arrivals at RIIPON and FISKE were quite
orderly. All hell broke loose when we were in downwind with at least a
dozen of planes all different sizes and speeds all funneled into rwy
27. We have attended a number of flyin events so this experience was
not exactly stressful but it was not fun either.

The landing on the colored dots system only worked when all pilots
have the skills to do exactly what to expect of them. There is no way
of anticipating what types of planes or pilots would be sharing the
runway with you

If we are to go back to Oshkosh, it will my turn to be the landing
PIC. I would not mind landing at KOSH but may check out Jim's
suggestion.

Hai Longworth

[Peter R.]

Longworth > wrote:

> http://makeashorterlink.com/?U12A2148D
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?E13A6448D

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing them.

I especially enjoyed the caption of the meanest looking cloud I have seen
in awhile, "Uncertain weather." Hmmm, it seemed pretty certain to me what
that cloud was about to deliver to you campers that day. ;)

--
Peter

[Longworth[_1_]]

Jay Honeck wrote:
> It was great meeting you, Hai. I sure hope you drag Rick to the party
> next year -- and I hope to get a glimpse of your beautiful Cardinal,
> too...
> --
Jay,
Unless I can talk Rick into going back to Oshkosh and either bring a
bike or buy a bike next time, there is no way that I can drag him to a
party after several days of walking on his bad ankle. The perimeter bus
system was totally inadequate. The morning which your family rode by
while we were waiting for the bus, after three fully loaded buses
passed us, we had to take the one going the opposite direction touring
the entire campground before getting to the show. BTW, if you and
Mary had heard me and stopped that day, you could have had more than a
glimpse of my Cardinal ;-)
It was great meeting your family and several of the r.a.p regulars.


Hai Longworth

[[email protected]]

I will chime in with my adverture to osh this year. It was my first
time to the"event" and I was planning to fly there in the firebreathing
monster, N801BH. I called flight service the thursday before and
quizzed them on details. Winds at 12,000 msl were favorable, 17@280, a
nice tail wind for me for sure. What I didn't know was the balloon they
send up also sends back temps too. So, silly me I ask for the currecnt
temps at 3000, 6000, 9000 and12,000. I was shocked to hear the gal say
the temp at 12,000 was 94 degrees F. YUCK............... it was about
then I decided to drive the ol pick um up truck that had A/C. Left here
at midnite Fri hoping to make the Alexis Park Inn party. Got to Iowa
City about 4 pm Sat and called Alexis for directions and Gina told me
"don't bother we are all booked up" Found a hotel right on I-80 and
bedded down for the night. Drove in Sun morning. The whole time looking
west toward Ripon/Fisk to see what would have been in store for me had
I flown in. I was expecting to see planes lined up all the way to
Nebraska, I bet between Fonda and Osh I saw maybe 5 planes converging
into the show. Got in and settled at camp and went to dinner, that's
when I was told of the closure. It all made sense then. After seeing
how plane traffic flowed Mon, Tues, Weds I was impressed at how orderly
at all looked. Zenith was kinda dissappointed I didn't bring the toy to
display in their booth, Eaa had reserved me a spot in the Auto Engine
Conversion line up front and the funniest of all, Some guys at Ford had
suggested I park up next to the Roush display since N801BH has a NASCAR
V-8 Ford in it. Ford Legal had emailed me just before the show and
hinted that they didn't want "anything" to do with a Ford powered
plane close to their spot. Funny how they sponsor the "experimental"
aircraft assoc and shun planes with alternative powerplants,<G> I
walked several miles in three days looking at as many planes as I could
and I counted 8 auto conversions. I expected to see hundreds, boy was
I wrong there. On Weds at 3PM I decided to bail and head back to
Jackson Hole, since Sturgis was the same weekend I wanted to roll
though there at 2AM to miss all the traffic. Worked like a charm, made
it there at 1.45 am and nobody around, got home at noon Thurs. Glad I
didn't witness the Sun mishap and other Sun mishap. I will be there
next year for sure and hopefully fly in to make Jays party, Also the
RAP/RAH/RAO mid week shindig will be on my things to do for sure.

Tailwinds,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Ben
N801BH
www.haaspowerair.com
Longworth wrote:
> This was our first Oshkosh trip. We camped for less than three days
> but took lots of pictures and some videos. Here are the links to
> images we took from Sunday July 23rd to Tuesday July 24th. The last
> picture was taken at my brief meeting with some of the r.a.p regulars
> at Jay Honeck's campsite. The dazed and crazed look on Jay's face
> after the blinding flash convinced me to put my camera away ;-)
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?U12A2148D
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?E13A6448D
>
> While reviewing the images, Rick told me that he wished we had taken a
> picture of the DG while we were flying over Lake Erie enroute to
> Oshkosh. Here is the story of the missing picture.
>
> We delayed our Oshkosh bound trip until Sunday morning to wait for the
> front to pass. All through Saturday until early Sunday, there were
> quite a few of scattered thunderstorms. It was still quite hot and
> humid when we departed at around 8am. Rick flew the first leg from
> KPOU (Poughkeepsie, NY) to 8G2 (Corry, PA). After fueling both the
> planes and ourselves, we put on our life jackets in preparation for the
> flight over Lake Erie. The lake was at least 25nm away but it was
> easier to don the jackets on the ground.
>
> I was the PIC for the second leg from 8G2 to 3FM (Fremont, MI). We
> cruised at 8000' with the OAT over 60F. The cabin felt much hotter
> with the sun shining brightly from the East. After about 40 minutes of
> flying with the life vest, I was hot and thirsty and reached for the
> water bottle. Not sure whether the mouthful of water triggered some
> reaction or it was just a coincidence, I felt a tickle in my nose and
> had a spontaneous sneeze spraying water all over the instrument panel!
> We watched in horror as the tiny rivulets of water made their way down
> the panel. The most awful sight was the DG window. Within a few
> seconds, the water had quickly seeped inside the glass by capillary
> action forming tiny bubbles. The inside of the small round window was
> filed with expanding and exploding bubbles! I searched the center
> console in vain for some paper towels. With quick thinking, Rick
> reached for the towel on the backseat yanking it from under piles of
> approach charts and bags to wipe off the water. Everything dried off
> quickly but we could not get the water out of the DG window. I thought
> to myself "Oh my gosh, what have I done? We are flying over the
> lake on an IFR flight plan and the DG is dying. How do I explain it to
> ATC?" We nervously watched our DG heading, comparing it to the
> compass and the GPS. The indicated heading barely visible under
> bubbles inside the tiny cauldron still showed 290 plus or minus a few
> degrees.
>
> I did not remember how long that it took to cross Lake Erie but it
> seemed like a long time. The water 8000 feet below us and the water
> inside the DG got incorporated into my instrument scan with me trying
> hard not to fixate on them. The numbers in the DG gradually became
> clearer as the bubbles slowly coalesced into fewer and larger ones. By
> the time we reached the other shore, most of them were gone. I felt a
> few droplets of water on my knee. Not sure whether it was the water
> dripping out from the DG or my own sweat bullets. The DG was still
> rock solid. I felt a tremendous sense of relief. It was still hot and
> humid. My throat was dry. I reached for the bottle of water again.
> This time, I turned my head sideway, facing the copilot and not the
> instrument panel ;-)
>
> Hai Longworth
> N30703

[.Blueskies.]

"Peter R." > wrote in message ...
: Longworth > wrote:
:
: > http://makeashorterlink.com/?U12A2148D
: >
: > http://makeashorterlink.com/?E13A6448D
:
: Great pictures. Thank you for sharing them.
:
: I especially enjoyed the caption of the meanest looking cloud I have seen
: in awhile, "Uncertain weather." Hmmm, it seemed pretty certain to me what
: that cloud was about to deliver to you campers that day. ;)
:
: --
: Peter

Actually, that one blew over...

[Peter R.]

".Blueskies." > wrote:

> Actually, that one blew over...

.... blew over several tents? :)


--
Peter

[.Blueskies.]

"Peter R." > wrote in message ...
: ".Blueskies." > wrote:
:
: > Actually, that one blew over...
:
: ... blew over several tents? :)
:
:
: --
: Peter


I think that's the one I saw and was so worried about, and it only spit a little rain on us. It was the one late night
Tuesday that tried to blow us down...

[john smith]

In article m>,
" > wrote:

> Zenith was kinda dissappointed I didn't bring the toy to
> display in their booth, Eaa had reserved me a spot in the Auto Engine
> Conversion line up front and the funniest of all, Some guys at Ford had
> suggested I park up next to the Roush display since N801BH has a NASCAR
> V-8 Ford in it.

WOW! I hope to see the beastie next year!

[john smith]

In article >,
".Blueskies." > wrote:

> I think that's the one I saw and was so worried about, and it only spit a
> little rain on us. It was the one late night Tuesday that tried to blow
> us down...

I didn't notice any wind Tuesday night, but the on-and-off rain
strumming on my tent would wake me up. I just rolled over and went back
to sleep. Jay says earplugs work well, I will have to try them sometime.

[Longworth[_1_]]

wrote:
> I will chime in with my adverture to osh this year. It was my first
> time to the"event" and I was planning to fly there in the firebreathing
> monster, N801BH.

I am quite curious about your firebreathing monster. Do you have the
spec listed somewhere?

> send up also sends back temps too. So, silly me I ask for the currecnt
> temps at 3000, 6000, 9000 and12,000. I was shocked to hear the gal say
> the temp at 12,000 was 94 degrees F. YUCK

What? 94F at 12,000? Where? We were at 8000' and 9000' in our trips
from Poughkeepsie to Oshkosh then to northern Minnesota back to
Muskegon then Poughkeepsie and never saw OAT higher than 60F.

Hai Longworth

[Morgans[_3_]]

"john smith" > wrote

> I didn't notice any wind Tuesday night, but the on-and-off rain
> strumming on my tent would wake me up. I just rolled over and went back
> to sleep. Jay says earplugs work well, I will have to try them sometime.

Foam earplugs make the insides of my ears "itch" after an hour or two, but I
have found the very best ones (IMHO) to use for comfort, and sound.

Go to Wally World and report to the hunting section, and find the round blue
plastic case, with the soft blue plastic "ribbed" ear plugs, with an orange
string in between the two. I always pull the string out, because the string
rubbing on anything transmits a lot of noise, right into your ear. They are
still easy to get out, and are the easiest to put in, of any I have ever
tried. Lick them, and shove them in! Wear for hours, with no comfort
issues!
--
Jim in NC

[[email protected]]

Yeah, I couldn't have believed it either. It was over Rapid City SD.
Ground temps were 117 and I did the math. Standard temp lapse rate is
3.1 degrees per 1 thousand feet, They are in the 4000 msl range or so,
8X3 is 24 so it does make sense. I wasn't about to prove them wrong
though, <G>.


Longworth wrote:
> wrote:
> > I will chime in with my adverture to osh this year. It was my first
> > time to the"event" and I was planning to fly there in the firebreathing
> > monster, N801BH.
>
> I am quite curious about your firebreathing monster. Do you have the
> spec listed somewhere?
>
> > send up also sends back temps too. So, silly me I ask for the currecnt
> > temps at 3000, 6000, 9000 and12,000. I was shocked to hear the gal say
> > the temp at 12,000 was 94 degrees F. YUCK
>
> What? 94F at 12,000? Where? We were at 8000' and 9000' in our trips
> from Poughkeepsie to Oshkosh then to northern Minnesota back to
> Muskegon then Poughkeepsie and never saw OAT higher than 60F.
>
> Hai Longworth

[[email protected]]

Specs are at
www.haaspowerair.com
If ya got any questions go to the contact page there and send me an
email.


Longworth wrote:
> wrote:
> > I will chime in with my adverture to osh this year. It was my first
> > time to the"event" and I was planning to fly there in the firebreathing
> > monster, N801BH.
>
> I am quite curious about your firebreathing monster. Do you have the
> spec listed somewhere?
>
> > send up also sends back temps too. So, silly me I ask for the currecnt
> > temps at 3000, 6000, 9000 and12,000. I was shocked to hear the gal say
> > the temp at 12,000 was 94 degrees F. YUCK
>
> What? 94F at 12,000? Where? We were at 8000' and 9000' in our trips
> from Poughkeepsie to Oshkosh then to northern Minnesota back to
> Muskegon then Poughkeepsie and never saw OAT higher than 60F.
>
> Hai Longworth