Oshkosh 2003 Redux

(Jay Honeck wrote)
snipped stuff
And our rec.aviation get-together was a rousing success,

I'm hoping [Montblack] snagged the beer before some EAA lineguy did...


Random thoughts, because I'm tired - haven't unpacked yet...

I did find the "abandoned" beer cooler - thank you Jay. And please thank
Mary for me.

Jack Allison and his brother, another Steve, were at the
(rec.aviation.N40festival) - He flew a 172 in from Sacramento California,
IIRC. It was nice to meet everyone who was there. Went to Friar Tuck's twice
this week. I recommend the $3.50 Chef Salad and the $3.95 Little John or
Mini-Tuck or (whatever), long bun beef melt thing - excellent. Stay away
from the onion rings. Pitcher prices were ok-reasonable. Cheeseburger was
the size of a car hubcap - $3.50. I liked the place.

Never did bump into Jim Weir ...at the dorms (I was 2nd floor Fletcher) or
at Friar Tuck's. I'll have to attend one of his seminar(s). Next year.

Never been to Oshkosh before this year. Will return.

I kept stumbling across Australians and New Zealanders. Lots of them -
everywhere you went ...there they were. It got to be kind of spooky after
awhile.

Quick blurb on today - Sunday

Woke up in the dorms. Planned on meeting Jay, Mary and their two OshKids for
breakfast. Larry, from rec.homebuilt, couldn't make it to breakfast with us
because of morning forums. Everyone else I knew at Oshkosh had already
headed for home.

Packed up the room, checked out, loaded the car and drove over to the
Hilton, which is practically on the field. We hung around Jay's plane from
8:30am until enough voices pleaded, "I'm hungry" - then we walked 100 yds
over to the Hilton for buffet breakfast. Had a relaxing and enjoyable
breakfast.

After breakfast, Jay and Mary were planing their Sunday departure options.
Looked iffy for VFR. I said good-bye and caught the school bus over to the
warbirds, before Mary could put me to work packing up the camp.

Bus dropped me off by Fighter Ally (or whatever it's called). Many of the
planes were all rev'd up and in line to depart. I think most pilots saw a
weather window and figured it's now or ...who knows when?

Sat on the grass for over an hour watching the parade of (mostly) warplanes
taxi in front of us (me, and 100's of other gawkers). Poor planes were in
quite a traffic jam - I was worried some might overheat. There was one
emergency declared while I was listening on my scanner. A Warrior type took
off, declared emergency - "engine out" (his words), and returned to the
airport safely. He seemed to have some power when he returned. There were
other return-to-the-airport planes, but that was the only person who
declared "emergency".

Next year I'll bring an earjack for the scanner. All those warbirds, in a
departure parade traffic jam, made too much noise for me to be able to hear
the scanner all that well

Saw more of the vendor tents today. Went through many buildings today.

Carried a plastic bag (with handles) around for info sheets, brochures, my
scanner and a 32oz PowerAde/Gatorade bottle - for water. Water faucets
everywhere. I went through over a gallon per day (5-6 bottles).

Riley Superskyrocket was scheduled for a space (#65) but were a no-show. The
juicy scoop I got from SMA Diesel was, SMA is -- "no longer in communication
with Riley". (Read between the lines)

Symphony planes had the right idea - remove the wings and doors, then
display the plane. People could walk right up and see the roomy(?) interior.

Enjoyed talking with the Russian "Sherpa" kit plane folks. They had a
t-shirt that had (in big red letters) OSHKOSH 2003. And because it was
theirs, and not EAA's, it only cost $5.00. Perfect gift!!

D-Jet was cool at Diamond. Single engine ..."Williams 44"

Mustang has a MONSTROUSLY HUGE display screen in their panel.

Eclipse had a fun tent. From a "big picture" cynic's point of view, however
....it looked like a damage control display as much as anything else.

Ran out of time, didn't see the Adam A-700 Jet.

Didn't see any booths for the other small jet players.

Looked like rain, so I dropped plans to watch the afternoon air show and
headed back to the busses. Jay was gone, beer cooler was waiting for me
vBg. I got to my car, a short distance away, just as the rain started. Air
show was on hold because of lightning. I listened to the Oshkosh EAA AM
radio feed, driving back to Minnesota. They threw together an abbreviated
effort for the visitors - car was out of range after a while so I couldn't
hear how it finished.

300+ miles (6 hours TT) got home around 10 pm. Nice relaxing drive - no
deer, no tickets.

Other fun stuff, must sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....mmm...D-jet
(2006)....zzzzzzzzz

--
Montblack