Oshkosh Pictures and The Story of The Missing Picture

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

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

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

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

In article . com,
"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.

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

"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

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"

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

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!