Go back to AirVenture 2010

"WhiskeyGolf" (whiskeygolf) 04/11/2014 at 20:03 • Filed to: Planelopnik, Airventure

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I've gone to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! at Oshkosh three times since 2003 and with the recent interest here on Oppo, I thought I'd share some of my memories of my most recent trip.

I drove with my dad from Toronto through Sault Ste Marie along the coast of Lake Michigan. We arrived before the show started and killed some time by going to truck races as recommended by other friendly AirVenture attendees.

It was sweet seeing a Raptor in its natural habitat. Some hilarious characters in the stands too so that was fun.

During the next day we set up chairs near show centre and just watched the planes roll in. Set the scanner to ATC and there's never a dull moment.

The previous trip we talked to some officials and scored vests to work the ramp and walk planes into their spaces. We were probably the closest Canadians to the C5 in a long time! This time we worked the chairs instead.

After the show started, we walked around and looked at some of the more interesting show pieces.

Global Hawk is way larger than I imagined, and those high lift wings are cool.

This is the only civilian owned and operated Harrier flying today, and apparently drinks fuel at 1 US Gal/sec when in hover.

It was the 75th anniversary of the DC-3 so planes flew in from all over the world and was really cool to see the guys from Ice Pilots NWT. They even accepted my Canadian cash for a tshirt. That's me with Buffalo Joe, who has way more gold teeth than TV seems to show. It was even more fun seeing the trip documented on the show months later.

Ford is a big time sponsor of the show and 2010 was the year that the EcoBoost V6 was making waves and they released the redesigned Explorer. Naturally that meant making a spectacle of flying one in on an Erickson Air-Crane, which looks totally ungainly up close.

The rest of the day was spent watching the airshow.

Ford also had a Cobra Jet on display and raced a plane down the runway later on.

It's a pretty amazing show for any aviation enthusiast. There are a lot of repeats if you go every year, but I like visiting every 4 or 5 to see the progression.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > WhiskeyGolf 04/11/2014 at 20:11

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awesome

Jcarr > WhiskeyGolf 04/11/2014 at 23:05

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Nice pics!

If you haven't yet, take a Tri-Motor ride the next time you come. My dad and I have been going since 1992 and, ironically enough, finally took a ride in 2010. I think it was $50/person, but totally worth it. You get to see AirVenture from a completely different perspective.

Some pics I took from the plane:

Just after takeoff, banking right over the Oshkosh truck plant.

Local golf course

A quick selfie (my dad with the video camera back there)

Coming back in from the south to land on runway 36L

WhiskeyGolf > Jcarr 04/11/2014 at 23:16

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That's awesome! We saw it come and go but maybe next time I can make it work... dad's birthday present would do it.

ttyymmnn > WhiskeyGolf 04/12/2014 at 01:45

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I enjoyed the write up and the pics. That's definitely on my bucket list of aviation trips. Looks like a good time. Thanks for sharing.

Thunder > Jcarr 04/15/2014 at 21:52

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HA! Runway 36R... AKA taxiway 36. Gotta love it.

(Oshkosh '88, '89, '90... I think. May have been '89-'91)

Thunder > WhiskeyGolf 04/15/2014 at 21:54

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Awesome.

I went with my parents for three years, I think it may have been '89-'91. Concorde was featured at one; AN124 compared to C-5 for another.

You always see unique things there. Seawind 3000. SwiftFire (Roy LoPresti cleaned-up Globe Swift). All sorts of other stuff. Goodyear blimp doing 60 degree angle of attack climbs and descents sticks in my mind.

I may drag my son there some year, now that my private pilot certificate is current again.

WhiskeyGolf > Thunder 04/16/2014 at 00:12

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That's a great idea. I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to earn my private license and fly direct.