Welcome to Oshkosh. Every year a remakable number of AirVenture attendees arrive days, even weeks, before the event's official start. They come early to meet up with old friends, do the work of finishing the preparations for the fly-in, or simply to enjoy the relative quiet.
All alone in their field. Sunday afternoon the flight line crews are still parking antique/classic arrivals in row 60 near the Theatre in The Woods. But twenty rows south, two planes stand all alone in the grass near the edge of runway 36. Jim Braden, his son Mike, and row 82 neighbor Lynn Welsch, arrived on Saturday afternoon and today they sit under Jim's wing. They watch the arriving aircraft as they discuss the subtleties of Cessna taildragger identification. Flaps vs. no flaps... the angle of the fuselage and tail.
Jim, a former Speaker of the House of the Kansas Legislature, is a five time veteran of AirVenture Oshkosh. This year he's persuaded his non-pilot son Mike to accompany him for the first time. "We'll have him taking flying lessons soon," Jim jokes. Jim lives in "The Valley", a fly-in community near Cotter, Arkansas. Mike lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They made the five hour flight from Arkansas to Oshkosh on Saturday in Jim's Stinson 108-1.
Parked next to the Stinson is the 1956 Cessna 172 belonging to Lynn and her husband Philip. Lynn proudly points out that their plane was the 35th 172 ever built. Sadly, Philip has the cowling off and is occupied with trying to isolate a problem with the plane's generator. Lynn and Philip also arrived on Saturday, making the 8 1/2 hour trip from the Aerocountry Airport in McKinney Texas. It's their fourth visit to AirVenture Oshkosh.
Down on the farm. It's still pretty quiet on Sunday afternoon in the ultralight area, but Chairman Chazz Humphrey, with his pre-flyin crew of about a dozen, is busy finishing preparations for AirVenture '99. They're moving picnic tables & benches out of storage, preparing the signs for the area, and painting & improving the buildings that make up "The Farm".
"This year we took every window out of this building and shaved a bit off of the frames, so now they all open." He seems pleased about what must have been a long postponed task.
In addition to the manual labor Chazz, and his crew, field phone calls from inbound ultralights to give them briefings and arrival instructions.
Bragging rights involved here. Each year Row 1 of the North Forty campground is a prize pursued by many AirVenture attendees. No official records are kept so it's impossible to know for sure who was first to arrive. And this year was complicated by the fact the early arrivals were temporarily diverted to Row 78 because Row 1 was too wet. Later, as things dried out, they were moved to the hallowed grounds. The likely winner of this year's bragging rights is part of a group of four planes that converge here each year in a friendly (and occasionally cut-throat) competition to arrive first.
Vernon Roper and Bill Sellers are from Marysville, California. They arrived early Thursday afternoon in their 1979 Cessna 172 XPII. It's Bill's third year here and Vernon's first.
Terry and Judy Clark, from Traverse City, Michigan, arrived around noon Thursday in their 1961 Cessna 172. It's Terry's 15th Oshkosh. Ironically his airplane has been coming here longer than he has. At the 1983 Oshkosh he was the guest of a flying club. He camped under the wing of one of their planes. That trip to Oshkosh inspired Terry to start flying lessons and he later bought that same plane.
Pat Ponczek (aka "Fireball Ponczek") is from Cadillac, Michigan. She arrived in loose formation with Terry and Judy. "Fireball" has been to Oshkosh for eleven years. Her husband, Bob Porter, is not only in his first year at Oshkosh, but his first week as Pat's husband. They were married a week earlier and are spending their honeymoon in a tent on Row 1.
So finally, as near as we can figure, the first arrival to the North Forty this year was Barrie and Sylvia Keal from the Brampton Flying Club in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. They arrived around 11am on Thursday in their Piper Cherokee. It's their 12th Oshkosh, having missed only one year since 1982.
Colorful Quicksilver. Tom and Sue Brown are tieing down their newly completed Quicksilver MXL Sport ultralight. Tom flew it in from their home in Fort Atkinson Wisconsin while Sue followed in their pickup truck towing their "pop-up" camper trailer. They camp across the street from the Ultralight Barn with a groups of ultralight enthusiast friends.
Tom has only 11 hours in this ultralight, his third since 1992. The color scheme on the wing skins matches the custom pockets, beside the seat, that Sue made to give Tom places to store things while he flies. "You need a place to stash your jacket or your phone," she says.
While travelling Sue tracks Tom's progress by listening on a scanner in the truck to the position reports he makes. Even though the ultralight cruises at only 50 knots his still manages to beat her to their destinations due to the road slowdowns. "This morning," he says, smiling, "I looked down and saw this stretch of road that was all torn up and thought, oh I'm gonna beat her today."
You lost what? Bill and John are gearing up to help AirVenture attendees in need. They are two of the staff in the Lost & Found/Information shack just south of the control tower.
"I'm always amazed," says John Kerr, back for his fifth year at AirVenture, "at how honest Oshkosh people are. All kinds of valuable things are turned in. I'd say 90% of the people who come looking for their lost items eventually get them back."
"We have all sorts of radios, cameras, sunglasses turned in," says 22 year Oshkosh veteran, Bill Parrish. "One time $20,000 worth of radios were forgotten in a cab and were picked up here by their owner. You can't believe the things that get turned in: false teeth, lots of credit cards, one time we got a glass eye that someone had left behind in the showers."
"Last year," says John, "a guy came up to us on the first day of the show looking kinda sheepish. He asked if anyone had turned in a money clip with $3,000 in it. He then listed the various denominations... so many fifties, twenties..." Much to the guy's delight they actually had his cash. It had been turned in by an exhibitor who found it in his booth after it had been left behind during a purchase.
Bill and John are from Fort Walton Beach Florida. In addition to lost & found, they have all sorts of information about AirVenture's activities and they also act as a message center for attendees.
It's the only way to do it. Bill Merck is attending his 13th Oshkosh. Bill and his 1976 Cherokee Cruiser are parked at the end of North Forty Row 11 where he can keep an eye on the runway 27-9 arrivals. Bill prefers camping, although years back he tried staying in the dorms, but he says, "If you're going to come to Oshkosh you have to fly in and camp. It's the only way to do it." Bill flew in on Staurday from McKinney Municipal Airport in McKinney Texas.
Over the years Bill and his wife have taken their two kids on many trips in the Cherokee, "But Oshkosh is the furthest we've gone." Now that his kids are bigger the Cherokee is getting cramped so Bill is keeping his eyes open for something bigger. "Maybe a Cherokee Six," he says. Perhaps that's why he's keeping a sharp eye on the arriving aircraft.
A rose by any other name. Down in the ultralight area there's a little porch out in front of the red barn. It's called "The Chicken Coop". You might think that this name comes from the fact that, sitting next a barn like it does, it just looks like a chicken coop. But like so many things at Oshkosh there's a story behind that name.
In the early days of the ultralight group there was an EAA staffer who was helping out. Her name was Joyce. She was a devoted and loyal EAAer, but she had one flaw. She said flying made her nervous. This slight flaw in her character led to the good-natured nickname of "Chicken Joyce". And since she was occasionally stationed in this gazebo, it came to be called "The Chicken Coop".
And now, even though Joyce has moved on to other responsibilities at AirVenture the name has stuck, it's still called the Chicken Coop.
Still crazy after all these years. Judy Sparks and her husband Allen have been away from Oshkosh for 10 years. But they've never been away from EAA. Until 10 years ago they were regulars here. Allen had been attending the Fly-in since back in the Rockford days. But then family demands made it impossible for them to make the annual trek from Petersburg, Virginia. So instead they became regulars at Sun 'n Fun, and in recent years have been instrumental in creating the Virginia State EAA Fly-In.
The Virginia State Fly-In started in 1997 with 400 planes and 3000 people attending. The Fly-In is put on by a council of all the EAA Chapters in Virginia. It's patterned after the Copperstate Fly-In and is held each year in June.
Some adventure, eh? Allan Behuncik is attending his first Oshkosh. And he seems to be having fun. He's standing beside his Rotorway 162F helicopter at the edge of the ultralight/rotorcraft runway getting ready to give rides to some friends.
Allan Behuncik, Joyce Behuncik
The retired Canadian Military Police Officer flew his helicopter to AirVenture '99 from his home Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Red Deer is 500 miles up from Mile Zero of the Alaska Canadian Highway. The trip took 4 days with 28 flying hours. A "ground crew" of Allan's wife, Joyce, and two friends, Peter Kooiman and Hans Svendsen, followed in a truck pulling a camper trailer. Allan would land every so often to change passengers so everyone got to ride along.
Allan finished building the 162F in 1998. He had flown it 100 hours before leaving for this trip, and he estimates that by the time he gets home again it'll be up to 160 hours. Allan became a fixed wing pilot in 1962 and currently has 2000 hours. He learned to fly helicopters in 1991 and has 700 hours.
It's sad but true that some AirVenture aircraft arrive with mechanical problems. But help is near, in the form of the EAA Emergency Aircraft Repair facility. 27 year EAA veteran Cy Galley and his crew of 40 volunteers are just south of the Hangar Cafe, and ready to provide assistance in diagnosing, and often repairing, aircraft problems. Galley and all of the repair facility volunteers are part of EAA Chapter 75 from Rock Island, Il. & Davenport, Iowa.
Cy Galley
The repair facility began in 1963 while the fly-in was still held in Rockford. In those early years they worked out of a tent, but over time they grew first into a shack, then a tiny office, and this year they move into a newly expanded shop building known as "Galley's Garage".
As you can imagine, the help is appreciated. Two years ago Diane and Roland Reichel's Navion arrived at the fly-in from Dayton, Ohio with starter problems. Of course, Cy and company helped them out. This year Diane and Roland are back as volunteers helping with painting the new building.
Stewart Wood and his friends are resting. Seated around their Camp Scholler campsite, they're tired and jet-lagged. "It was a long trip... very long... too long." But they're all smiling, cause they've arrived in Oshkosh. Stewart and friends just completed the 26 hour trip via commercial airliner & rented van, from Johannesburg, South Africa, via Milan and Chicago.
The 16 members of this group represent 3 of the 4 EAA Chapters in South Africa. The most notable of these is Chapter 322. It was South Africa's first Chapter, founded 30 years ago, and has 170 members. Its clubhouse is located at Grand Central Airport in Midrand, which is an airport about the size of Fond du Lac.
EAA Chapters in and around "Joburg" are very much like those here in the states, says Wood. Some are serious builders and other are more into social activities. And the planes being built there are similar to here, with a slight emphasis on simpler, cheaper planes due to the unfavorable currency exchange.
Watching the sky. The woman was standing near one of the exhibits buildings watching the planes flying over runway 18. "My son is over getting a Young Eagles ride." She seemed as excited about this as her boy probably was. "He not only gets a one-on-one ride in a plane, but they even let him take over the controls. After that he's really gonna want to learn how to fly. I told him he needs to get good grades so he can get an appointment to the Air Force Academy."
Space Cowboy. It seem's that there's no limit to the kind of people you can meet at AirVenture. Take Kent Ewing for example. Kent is a civilian spacecraft test pilot. And that's just the latest in a long series of adventures.
Ewing served two combat tours in Vietnam, flying "Ironhand" anti-aircraft suppression missions in A-4s. Then he was the lead test pilot for the AV-8B Harrier. He performed its first carrier landing and first night carrier landing. Later he commanded the Navy Squadron that rescued the victims of the Achille Lauro terrorists. After that he commanded of the aircraft carrier "America" during the Gulf War.
He's retired from the military now, attending his second Oshkosh Fly-in. His first was in 1995. As you can imagine he particularly likes the Warbirds. "It's the greatest gathering of warbirds I've ever seen," he says.
These days he has about a thousand hours in a 1955 Beech Baron. And soon he hopes to test fly the suborbital launch vehicle that his company, TGV Rockets, Inc, is developing. You can meet Kent on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. in Forum Tent Six where he is presenting "Design of a low-cost spacecraft".
"Bill's Dream" Bill Morrison's family brings his Beechcraft Staggerwing to AirVenture each year from Chicago's Dupage Airport near Chicago. They keep the aircraft shining and in pristine condition.
Bill's Dream
Bill had always wanted one of these ships. At the end of WWII he had a chance to buy four of them, but didn't have the money. Thirty years later he found one in parts and bought it. He spent 5 1/2 years restoring it and in 1981 won "Contemporary Age, Runnerup" at Oshkosh.
Bill suffered a fatal heart attack on board a commercial airliner on his way to Oshkosh in 1985. Five months later, his beloved Staggerwing was nearly destroyed in a hangar fire.
Bill's Dream
From 1985-1990 member's of Bill's family restored the plane again, and as a memorial, resumed bringing it to Oshkosh. In 1991 it won "Contemporary Age Champion" and in 1992 "Contemporary Age, Runnerup" again. Today it's no longer entered for judging, but they keep it in near award winning condition because that's what Bill probably would have wanted.
Most AirVenture attendees are familiar with the aircraft builder awards that are presented each year, but they may not be as familiar with the work that goes into selecting those winners. We spent a little time one afternoon with members of the Homebuilt judging team to learn what goes on behind the scenes.
Judges are selected through an interview process. Some of the key criteria are mature thinking and a breadth of experience in many aspects of custom building. There is very little turnover in the judging team. Only one new Homebuilt judge was added this year. From the 40 Homebuilt judges that were invited to work at Oshkosh this year a team of about 20 actually assembles.
Judging begins on AirVenture opening day and runs through noon on Sunday. After a daily 8 a.m. group meeting the judges fan out, usually in teams of three. They must locate all the aircraft that carry the green sticker indicating that its needs to be judged. There's no automatic system for finding the entries, judges must just work up and down the rows looking for stickers.
Homebuilt judging
When they find an entry they carefully examine it for workmanship, innovation and safety. Points are awarded to each plane in categories such as fuselage, wings, empennage, landing gear, powerplant, and appearance. Each entry must be inspected by at least three judges. The final score is an average of all the judges for that plane. Scorekeeping was automated a few years back as judges now enter the scoring on handheld devices from AirVenture Sponsor 3COM. Those scores are then periodically downloaded to a central computer that tabulates the results.
After spending a couple of hours with Judge Jim Miller the high quality of the planes at Oshkosh is apparent. The competition is of such high quality that beautiful planes are effectively eliminated because of seemingly minor defects.
Homebuilt judging
On Sunday afternoon judging ends. At that time the judges may review some of the higher scoring entries. But soon a Grand Champion and numerous secondary award winners are selected.
Family Air Affair. Flying is very much a part of the Newman Family. John and Cyndy's first date was to have been an airplane ride, but weather grounded them, so John gave Cyndy a walking tour of the airport instead. John has been attending AirVenture since 1983, Cyndy joined him in '87. Both of their children have been attending since BEFORE they were born. Cyndy was pregnant with J.W. at the fly-in in 1988 and Katie in 1990.
While at AirVenture the Newman's are active volunteers with various projects. John is a member of the Chapter Advisory Council. Katie and J.W. keep busy checking out the planes and deciding on their favorites. Currently seaplanes are popular with the Newman kids. J.W. favors the Sikorsky Carnauba amphibian, and Katie wants a "pink and purple seaplane."
The Newmans come to Oshkosh, from Ft. Worth, Texas, in their Tri-Pacer. The four of them squeeze in alongside two tents, four sleeping bags, air mattresses, a stove, lanterns, toys, clothes, and food.
Arnold Vasenden's eyesight and memory may not be a sharp as they used to be, but his enjoyment of Oshkosh is a strong as ever. Arnold now spends much of AirVenture sitting in the shade of his Cessna 195, but he has led a life full of aviation.
In 1955 he taught his wife Gwen how to fly. "I had to learn how to fly," she says, "so I'd be able to spend time with him." Over the years they raised five children, four of whom Arnold also taught to fly. Two of his sons are now airline pilots.
When asked for details his memory fails him, but he does remember with pleasure that he's had many different planes over the years. Gwen tells us that he's owned J3 Cubs, a Tri-Pacer, a 182, a Cherokee Six, an Archer, and now, his baby, the 1952 Cessna 195. These days Gwen is pilot for the trips from their home in Fertile, Minn. to Oshkosh. When she's not helping as a volunteer with Antique/Classic registration, she and Arnold walk among the airplanes. "He's at his happiest here at Oshkosh."
The Last Row. It's a long way down to Row 142 in the "South 40" Campground. That's where Mike Winblad and his son Stuart parked when they arrived at AirVenture '99 on Thursday.
This is Mike's third Oshkosh. He first attended 25 years ago, then returned only last year. It's Stuart's first AirVenture. A budding pilot himself, the nine year old especially liked the jet-powered Waco and the BD-5 Jet in the daily airshow.
The Last Row
Mike and Stuart flew in from Troy Sky Park in Troy, Ohio. They made the flight in their 1937 Waco VPF7 biplane. Its one of the only two still flying.
Mike received a pleasant surprise at AirVenture this year. Walking the flight-line he discovered the DC-3 that he flew thirty years ago as company pilot for Mead Paper Corporation. He logged 650 hours in that plane and had last seen it in a museum in Kalamazoo.
One particularly interesting aspect of camping in Row 142 is the coyotes. At least that's what Mike and Stuart say surrounded their campsite during the night on Friday. The animals did no harm, but spent some time sniffing for food before howling when startled by a passing car horn.
High School Reunion. This is John Hattan's 21st Oshkosh since 1976. He usually attends with his family but is alone this year. He flew from Lake Waltanna Airport near Wichita, Kansas in his Cessna 185. He had planned to bring his Luscomb this year but last minute mechanical problems made that impossible. Late that evening, after realizing that the Luscomb wasn't going to make the journey this year, he was so anxious to get here that he loaded everything into his Cessna and flew through the night, arriving here just after first light.
Years ago John ran into his high school best-friend at Oshkosh. They hadn't seen each other in years. Ever since, even though they still have no contact the rest of the year, they arrange to camp together at AirVenture and catch up on old times.
"City Beautiful". Bob and Barb Ziegler fly their Lake Turbo Renegade Amphibian to AirVenture from Cedar Ridge Airport near Nauvoo, Illinois. Nauvoo is an indian word meaning "City Beautiful."
They enjoy Oshkosh because it gives them a chance to meet up with their "Lake Friends." Bob & Barb are parked in the amphibian's area just south of the ultralight field. Bob has attended the fly-in for 21 years, Barb for eight years.
Like so many other attendees, they particularly enjoyed the jet powered Waco and the Turbo Raven this year. "Oshkosh is a refreshing time to get charged up and to meet all your airplane friends," says Bob.
Oshkosh Spirit. When two of the Forum tents blew down during Friday night's storm, Forum attendees didn't let that stop them. They pushed aside the wreckage, straightened out the chairs and held their Forums in the open air.
Oshkosh Spirit
Oshkosh Spirit
Oshkosh Spirit
Another sort of aviation family. "Friday was the most uncomfortable day I've ever seen at Oshkosh," said Ken Brock, and he ought to know. Ken has been a participant at the EAA annual fly-in since back in the Rockford days. "For the last two years at Rockford I was a spectator. Then when it moved to Oshkosh I became an exhibitor."
Ken is such a part of the AirVenture landscape that as many people visit his booth to "just say hi" as do to ask about his products. His modest booth in Exhibit Building B offers all sorts of pieces and parts for a wide range of homebuilt aircraft.
Thinking back on the many EAA Fly-ins he been part of he says it's hard to pick out just a few special moments. "Every year there's something that stands out," he says. "The year Voyager flew in, that was big of course."
Ken dismisses his popularity saying that there aren't that many people in aviation and jokes, "I probably know all of them."
"It's just one big family," he says.
Dorothy Stiles and Sally DeFouw have been helping out in the North Forty Registration Building for a long time. Between the two of them they have over 56 years of volunteering. And ironically neither of them is a flyer.
Dorothy Stiles and Sally DeFouw
They each first came to Oshkosh with their husbands. Dorothy, whose husband passed away 2 years ago, now drives herself 459 miles from Cherokee, Iowa. Sally comes here from Milwaukee. They both say simply that they do this because it's like being part of a family.
Historic Aviation. Barbara Horn has worked at the fly-in since 1975. Her father Jim Horn was the founder of Historic Aviation, selling books & videos, in the Fly-Market and the main exhibition hall, since the second year of the fly-in here in Oshkosh.
Barb, who is now General Manager, has seen a lot of changes over the years. She reminisces about when the exhibits were housed in the old exhibit buildings. In addition to being very hot inside, "when it would rain hard, the south building would get flooded. Rain would come in under the side of the building," she says.
One of her fondest memories is how older flyers would "camp out" for hours and watch the vintage aviation films, and later tapes, that Historic Aviation shows at their booth. "Sometime they'd bring their kids and grandkids to show them the airplanes they flew in the old days."
Third Generation Oshkoshers. The Barron Family has assembled a small village of camping gear beside their Twin Beech D18. Mike, Regina and the kids have pitched camp abeam the three-six numbers down in the "South Forty." Dillon is four years old and attending his second Oshkosh. Bryce, seven and Kyle, nine, are both attending their first Oshkosh.
Kyle's favorite thing so far at this year's fly-in is the Jet Waco. "It makes a really loud noise and goes straight up."
All three boys are ready to learn how to fly. Their father Mike has been flying since he was seven. Both of Mike's parents are flyers and regular AirVenture attendees. The whole Barron clan flies out of Barron Airpark in Perry, Missouri.
Lean, mean aviation parts company. Wicks Aircraft Supply has been participating in the Oshkosh fly-in since 1972. And although business is bigger and better than ever, they actually operate now with a staff one-third the size of when they started.
This provider of custom-builder parts and supplies, used to have a 50 foot display case. They would bring about one quarter of their entire warehouse inventory to Oshkosh. But then they realized that people would just as soon have things shipped to them later anyway so they got rid of the long counter and created an inviting wall-mounted display that people place orders from.
General Manager Jerome Hediger remembers that one of the more exciting times in their Oshkosh history was when the Varieze first appeared and Wicks was one of the only vendors for parts, "after each builder workshop it was overwhelming. They would follow us back to our booth, to ask more questions. It was like the pied piper."
Time to head home. Last year we wrote that AirVenture is about people, and it still is. But in talking to attendees this year it's become clear that one of the things that bonds all of us together, and that defines the Oshkosh experience, is History.
Obviously there's the history of the vintage aircraft, but over the years the Oshkosh fly-in has accumulated a history of its own. Every attendee of more than a couple of visits has stories about past years. The year it rained, the year it was hot, the year Voyager arrived, the B2, the 747 fly-by, the Concorde, the last flight of the Golden Eagles. And personal history too, in the form of many friendships that are a generation old, sometimes with people that they only see here at Oshkosh.
AirVenture has great exhibits and wonderful airshows. But those are not the things that lure us back over and over. It's the history we have here that calls us back each year. A Star Wars fan once joked about Oshkosh that "The Force" is strong in this place. And it is. There is an aura, generated from years of memories, that defines what this Oshkosh thing is really about.
So, like many attendees, I'll leave here today, already anxious until I can return and again hear those magical words. "Welcome to Oshkosh."
— ATF