Jay Honeck wrote:
Lest any of you think that I'm so google-eyed about Oshkosh that I can't
find anything to bitch about, here are a few nits I'd like to pick:

1. No Glacier Girl. Again, Glacier Girl (the P-38 so many of us OSH-goers
contributed money to recover and restore) was a no-show. (Although there
WAS a real ME-109 at the show -- a first!) Ungrateful *******s.

Someone has to pay the $100k insurance for the week. Plus, only one
person is approved by the insurers to fly it. If he isn't available, the
airplane has to sit.

3. EAA Clothing Sucks. Most years EAA does a commendable job creating
slick and colorful souvenir shirts. This year the colors were weird, the
materials felt cheap, and the prices remained high. For the first time,
ever, I left OSH without a couple of show golf shirts.

Hey, top of the line Chinese knockoffs provide the most profit.

5. Where was the Confederate Air Force? In years past, the CAA was a
commanding presence in the warbirds section, with Fi Fi (the only flying
B-29 in the world) as its centerpiece. For at least the fifth year in a
row, the CAA was a virtual no-show, with only a few token planes. (The very
cool and rare Helldiver being a notable exception this year.) Where's the
heavy metal?

Haven't they suffered some losses in the past year? Their insurance may
have gone up and the sponsorship may not have been available. I know
when they have come to Columbus OH in the past, the local group has
worked their butts off to come up with the sponsorship money to pay for
fuel.

7. Long-Term North 40 Camper Parking? When bad weather was predicted (but,
of course, never materialized) a whole bunch of folks departed early. This
left huge holes in the North 40 between campers, some of which were
in-filled by later arrivals, but not all.
It would be cool if there was a way for EAA to park long-term campers
together in the North 40. Perhaps instead of simply putting "GAC" in the
window, we could display "7-Day GAC" -- which would signal the EAA flagmen
to direct us to the front rows? This would make late-week "in-filling"
much easier, too.

And how many people will just put a sign "7-day GAC" in the windscreen
just to get a close camping spot so they don't have to walk?

8. Losing the Piggly Wiggly is a pain. The Pick N Save store is great, but
it's just a bit too far away. One good thing, though, is that a shopping
cart system evolved over the week, whereby folks would push their shopping
cart all the way back to the North 40 and abandon it near the gate. Then,
others heading over to Pick N Save would wheel the cart back, and the cycle
would continue. At first we all looked like a bunch of street people,
pushing stolen shopping carts around Oshkosh -- but the system worked, and
Pick N Save didn't seem to mind. (Unlike the ghetto, all the shopping carts
were returned in the end!)

Pick & Save was no farther than Piggly Wiggly was. I walked to it every
day for evening meals and ice. I think they have a better selection than
Piggly Wiggly did. (Although they did not have lobster, sorry Margie.)
WalMart was a loss, but Target has done a good job of filling the niche
with low priced goods competitive with WalMart prices.