AirVenture 2017 was a truly great experience for me. Every single day of the nine-day trip was special; lots of good times from beginning to end, and some epic memories created. It turned out to be a rather beer-fueled week as I had social events scheduled Sunday through Thursday, but pacing myself was an effective strategy for having fun without overdoing it. I'll try to hit the highlights here.
I departed Friday at 6 a.m. for Muskegon to catch the Lake Express ferry to Milwaukee. It was my first voyage on the Lake Express, and it was enjoyable. I should have done more homework on getting out of Milwaukee as my Garmin had me chasing my tail a bit, but I made it to Camp Scholler in good time. I was lucky to grab my favorite location and set up a campsite boundary. Rain was forecast, so I didn't set up the tent right away. I checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn and was thrilled to find that I got the best possible room for airport viewing. Had the usual beerbrief with Amy on the phone that afternoon, followed by an early dinner and some deck time with other aviation enthusiasts. Went to bed early, only to be awakened by the hotel fire alarm. It was a false alarm, and the staff was very apologetic about it. It caused me no trouble, and I was grateful for their concern.
Saturday morning I set up camp and made a beer run to a craft beer store downtown. Returning to the hotel that afternoon, I sat down and enjoyed my room view as I recorded an audio travelogue entry. I had the usual beerbrief with Amy and walked over to the Charcoal Pit II for an early dinner. I returned for more quality time on the deck, which led to one of my epic stories from this trip.
This was the first year that I brought my handheld com/nav radio to OSH, and that turned out to be a brilliant decision. The tower crews are an absolute joy to listen to; so professional, yet friendly and enthusiastic. Watching from the Hilton deck as experienced pilots comply with their direction added a whole new dimension to the experience. It also gave me the advantage of knowing when certain aircraft were inbound, and I got to hear the B-29 Doc call in as it arrived at Oshkosh for the first time. As the
evening wound down, the inbound traffic thinned out and the tower crew got more
relaxed and conversational with pilots about to land. When they had no
handoffs they would occasionally ask "Anybody inbound from FISK on this
frequency?" At one point, after receiving no replies they asked
"Anybody at all on this frequency?"... I thought about it... and
couldn't resist. I keyed up my mic and asked "Does the Hilton deck
count?" The controller answered "Sure, why not. What do
you need?" I replied "Nothing; I'm just enjoying the chatter.
You DID say anybody!" He laughed as he said "Sure, no
problem. Tell you what, look at the tower." I faced the tower
and waved.... and he gave me the green light! He then said "There
you go, have a great week!" Laughing myself, I replied,
"Thanks! I can cross that off my bucket list: I got the green light
from OSH tower!" He replied "Glad to help!" I was just thrilled. I must have shared that story at least a hundred times since then... and
I guarantee I'll be telling it for the rest of my life.
Sunday morning I awoke just in time to catch a beautiful sunrise from the deck. After breakfast I showered and took my time packing, lingering in the luxury of my excellent room as long as possible before checkout. Returning to the campsite, I tended to some additional setup details. I was visited by my friend Leo Knowlden who had flown in and parked in the North 40. Then I was off to the first social event of the week, the HBC Beer Tasting being held at the Homebuilt Camping Pavilion. I brought some of my favorite brew as my admission ticket - Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout. I arrived early to volunteer as a setup helper, but ended up doing very little; the experienced organizers had things well in hand. I enjoyed the company of my fellow homebuilt aviators and craft beer enthusiasts for a few hours before heading over to the S.O.S. Brothers tent for some dinner. I was surprised upon my arrival to learn that the Flying Musicians Association was hosting a jam session there that evening that included a full backline, including drums! It was another fun time that added another great story to the week... now I can say that I've actually jammed at AirVenture.
Monday morning was spent patrolling the homebuilt camping area, taking photos of every RV-8 I could find and enjoying conversations with fellow builders. I visited the Van's tent to pick up my banquet tickets as well as some spare hats, then caught a tram over to the exhibition hangars where I visited Jason Smith with Aerotronics and Alan Barrett with Barrett Precision Engines. I caught a tram expecting to return to homebuilt camping area, only to learn that there was only one tram that followed that route. That set me up for a long walk back to the bike. Oh well. After returning to the campsite to rest awhile and debrief with Amy, I rode over to the Aeromart briefly to visit a vendor I had met on the Hilton deck. I went back to the campsite and did some planning before walking to the forums area to attend Paul Dye's Flight Test 101 presentation. I got to chat with him afterwards, and we ended up seeing each other quite a few times during the week while attending various events. Back to the campsite to watch the afternoon airshow, then had dinner at S.O.S. Brothers before attending the VAF Social. I enjoyed sharing the company of fellow RV builders including a fun conversation with my friend Bryan Raley, an RV-8 builder from Colorado. Heading back to the campsite to settle in for the night, I made audio entries and jokingly texted how much fun it was to try to sleep hearing the Fly-In Theater in one ear, a loud rock band at the S.O.S. Brothers tent in the other ear, and a rowdy campsite gathering behind me. Just another evening at OSH.
Tuesday morning was epic. I awoke just as the sky was getting light and it looked like it would be a glorious sunrise, so I grabbed the camera bag and headed for the flightline. Thanks to some very understanding and cooperative security guards, after presenting identification I was allowed media access and enjoyed the chance to photograph the stars of Boeing Square, including Doc and Fifi in the great morning light with no crowds. The sunrise was just as spectacular as I thought it would be, and I took some of my best photos of the week that morning. There is a photo album from that morning on my facebook page, but I'll share the highlights here.
I was treated to the dawn takeoff of five P-51 Mustangs heading out for a photo sortie, then had breakfast and talked with Amy on the phone before exploring the Warbird area and attending part of a ForeFlight forum presentation. Then came another unforgettable experience. I had planned to visit Doc that morning, and wore my Doc T-shirt to honor their first OSH visit. There was a media presentation with the Doc and Fifi crews scheduled at 10 a.m. but I had also planned to attend the RV-8 builders gathering at the Theater in the Woods at the same time, so I decided to get to Doc at 9:30 and play it by ear. The crew was attending the aircraft and there was a sign offering cockpit tours, but there was nobody manning the cash box. The crowd was sparse, so I hung out talking to a couple crew members while waiting to pay for a tour. Eventually I asked one of the crew when they would be allowing tours. He told me it was open, and called to the other crew member "Hey Tony, this guy wants to give you money!" I was momentarily stunned. Tony? You mean... Tony Mazzolini? The guy responsible for Doc being rescued and restored... a saga I've followed for decades? The guy whose herculean efforts overcame enormous obstacles and resulted in this magnificent aircraft becoming airworthy again... one of only two airworthy B-29s in the world today? The guy I had been chatting with for the past ten minutes... was Tony Mazzolini?! This was just too good to be true. I turned to Tony, shook his hand and told him all the things I had always wanted to tell him; how I had followed the story of this aircraft from China Lake to today, how proud I was of him for his accomplishments, and what a wonderful happy ending it was for him to be able live long enough to see Doc fully restored and flying again, and to be able to bask in the glory of sharing his victory with hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts such as myself. I also joked that he looked younger in person, which may be why I didn't recognize him! I took my cockpit tour, and since the crowds were still thin, I was allowed to linger on the flight deck and talk with the crew inside at some length. I mentioned that I hadn't recognized Tony at first, and one of them suggested that I have him sign my hat. Good idea... but I had a better one. After exiting the aircraft, I asked Tony if he'd sign my Doc T-shirt. He did, with press photographers asking if I would grant my permission for them to publish photos of him signing my shirt. They didn't publish the photos, but it still added to the surreal feeling of what I had just experienced. I ended up walking through Boeing Square in a daze, soaking in the presence of Doc, Fifi and the C-47 That's All, Brother... all aircraft whose restorations I had contributed to and followed with great interest... and here I was, surrounded by these aircraft that meant so much to me. When I got to the RV-8 gathering, all I wanted to talk about is what I just experienced; I'm sure they understood. That T-shirt instantly became too valuable to wear, so later that day I packed it carefully and eventually had it framed. It now has a place of honor on my office wall with other signed memorabilia.
Then it was time to return to the campsite, take a shower, do some housekeeping (or tentkeeping) and relax. Tuesday's airshow was truly historic. It was the first time that Doc and Fifi flew together; the first time two B-29s had flown together since the 1950s! The day's airshow theme honored the Doolittle Raid and featured a large number of B-25s flying double racetrack patterns over show center. One of the patterns brought the bomber stream right over the parking lot in front of my tent, so I walked over there to get the power lines out of my field of vision and enjoyed having B-25s doing continuous low passes directly overhead. Very cool indeed. After the airshow I attended the Van's Banquet for a great meal with more good company. Back to the campsite by 9 p.m. for a last beer and audio entry before retiring for the evening.
Much of Wednesday morning was spent in the Garmin tent. I arrived early for the first of two seminars on flying with the G3X and got a chance to work with the EFIS systems in one of their displays. The Garmin reps were very helpful and informative, and when they found out I was a customer they gave me exclusive passes to their customer appreciation party that evening. I was impressed with how intuitive the G3X system was. My trepidation about my huge glass panel investment with no experience turned to eager anticipation; now I can't wait to start using my own panel. I was also impressed with Garmin's new Virb 360 degree panning action camera. It's expensive (it's ALL expensive, right?) but what a great piece of technology. It would easily take the place of three or four standard action cameras. The seminar was informative and the timing was fortuitous as a brief thunderstorm passed through while I was in the tent. From there, I went to see Budd Davisson at his Pitts forum, speaking with him briefly afterwards. My afternoon activities included the afternoon airshow from my camp before attending the Gallagher beerfest, held in the same location as the VAF Social which is also sponsored by Gallagher. After staying there awhile and staying sheltered from another rain shower, I returned to the Garmin tent for more libation and some excellent food. Again, pacing held me in good stead... but the bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers were a bit too good to resist. I watched the night airshow and fireworks from my campsite, and was glad about that. Another brief but strong cloudburst hit during the airshow, cutting short Matt Younkin's performance and drenching the crowds on the flightline as well as the Fly In Theater. I stayed dry and comfortable in my tent and still got a few decent photos of the shortened fireworks display.
Thursday morning was I hung out at Boeing Square and took a tram ride through the vintage, ultralight and seaplane areas before attending the second half of the Garmin G3X seminar. After that I returned to the campsite, got in the truck and went back into town for another beer run. I still had some of my personal supply, but wanted to stock up enough to share at the EAA 113 Spaghetti Feed at the Chapter Pavilion that evening. The trip back to Camp Scholler was slightly harrowing; at this point AirVenture was getting very crowded and parking lots were filling up fast, causing confusion on the access roads. I had a beerbrief with Amy, took a shower and watched the afternoon airshow from my campsite before taking the truck (with full cooler) to the Spaghetti Feed. I arrived early and was lucky enough to park right on the Chapter Pavilion grounds. I helped set up and shared the beer as the attendees arrived. We had a great turnout this year; great food and good company. I left the event briefly to walk to the flightline to watch the Blue Angels make their orientation flights while a beautiful sunset lit the sky. To top it off, I got some great news from a family member while I was there. This week just kept getting better, and I slept well that evening.
Friday morning I got up early and rode over to Pioneer Airport to be the first one to board one of the Bell 47 helicopters for a short but scenic flight over Camp Scholler and the airshow grounds. From there I hurried to the forums just in time to see my fellow Chapter 113 member Sanjay Dhall give a presentation on his Detroit Flying Car concept. He had his prototype on exhibit in the Innovators Gallery, and I visited it on the way to a late breakfast. As I headed back to the campsite I was aware that fatigue was starting to set in. It had been a wonderful week, but that level of prolonged intensity and crowd exposure was beginning to fray my nerves, and I shared my feelings with Amy during our debrief. I chilled out for awhile before heading back into airshow center to see Steve Thorne at a very crowded meet and greet at the Bose tent. Then it was time to head to the Replica Warbird Area for a presentation on the Bally Bomber, an amazing 1/3 scale B-17 built by Jack Bally whose progress I had been following all the way up to the recent first flights. As it turned out, the presentation was not done by Jack himself... but he was sitting directly in front of me during the presentation! It was good to meet the man and learn more about the aircraft. I viewed the day's airshow from the flightline because it was to be one of the best of the week and I wanted to watch it up close. While I was there I took advantage of a brief opportunity to meet up with fellow photographer Nick Moore, whom I had met in Wichita at Stearman Field (see my blog entry on the Sherwin-Williams Training). Seeing the B-29s flying in close formation was amazing. So was seeing two Airacobras and a Kingcobra flying together, a Corsair and Bearcat together, and all the other warbirds. During a lull in the show I returned to my campsite in time to watch the Blue Angels fly their routine from the comfort of my temporary home. After the airshow concluded I walked over to the S.O.S. Brothers tent for dinner and had an engaging conversation with Jerry, the guitarist with that evening's featured band, Star Sixty Nine. I was back in my tent by 9:30 and did some packing for Saturday's departure, but instead of going to bed early I walked over to the Fly In Theater to watch the movie Hidden Figures, which was wonderful. Well worth staying up late, and a great way to cap off my AirVenture experience this year.
Saturday morning it was time to pack out, and I wasted no time. I was ready to go a little after 9 a.m. so I got a decent refund on unused camping days as I departed. I took the back roads east and south to have breakfast in Fond Du Lac. My plan was to follow the same route to Manitowoc as I took last year, visiting parks as I meandered through the beautiful Wisconsin farm country. I stopped in Roosevelt Park on the south shore of Lake Winnebago and revisited the vista point at Kiekhaefer Park before heading to Manitowoc.
Since I arrived far too early for dinner, I did some exploring. I parked near the ferry dock and walked over to the S.S. Badger while cars lined up along the street preparing to board. I took some photos of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum across the Manitowoc River with the submarine U.S.S. Cobia moored outside. I still had plenty of time to kill so I returned to the truck and ventured over to the museum. Although I didn't want to wait for the next sub tour I still had an enjoyable tour of the museum. Then it was time to get to the Courthouse Pub for suds and grub. I made sure to give a DVD copy of my music video "Beer O'Clock in Manitowoc" to the management because I wrote the song in that restaurant last year. Had great beer and a great meal, as usual, then took a walk down to the Fat Seagull to check on the Fest, which had just started. Eventually I walked back to the truck and moved it closer to the Fat Seagull Fest and settled in to enjoy the evening. I also delivered a DVD to the owner, who was working in the kitchen that evening. The band this year was an 8pc. R&B group called Flight Crew, and they rocked. Their logo featured a B-17, so I knew I was among friends on several levels. They already had someone recording audio so I felt no need (especially after recording a lot of the Flying Musicians jam at OSH) but I did take a lot of photos which I later shared with the bandleader Tom Sobel. As the evening wound down, I got the truck to the ferry dock and catnapped until the Badger arrived for the 1:30 a.m. departure.
Once on board, I went straight to my stateroom and slept like a rock during the crossing. Another beautiful sunrise greeted me in Ludington, and the ride home was smooth. I stopped in Midland for a late breakfast at the Shirlene's Cuisine diner and finally made it home around midday. After unpacking, Amy and I celebrated my return by opening the very large and very expensive bottle of White Chocolate Bourbon Barrel Ale that I had purchased in Oshkosh, only to find that it was very strong, like most bourbon barrel or scotch ales... but it wasn't very good. Oh well... even an odd ale couldn't diminish the great ending to a fantastic week.
Plenty has happened since my return, and I will write the next entry fairly soon to get back to the airplane progress which has been significant. But this year's AirVenture deserved its own entry in this blog... it was just that good.
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