OSH Airventure 2018

     I'm finally getting around to talking about this year's OSH trip.  It was another good trip overall, but in retrospect it didn't seem to make as great an impact as previous years.  As I headed northwest on Friday morning there was rain on the way from the west, creating the right conditions for a beautiful sunrise.

     Cells were starting to build around the area as I arrived at Ludington to catch the Badger.  The weather was good as we departed, but Lake Michigan was agitated by the weather and we rocked and rolled our way across to Manitowoc.  I ended up taking the southerly freeway route around Lake Winnebago and arrived at Camp Scholler with a big storm approaching from the west.  I hurried my way through registration and checked on my favorite camping spot, but it was full.  Camp Scholler was laid out differently this year and my previous fallback location was now an expanded parking area, so I staked out a spot in the non-generator area.  Fortunately the first storm cell passed to the south as I made my way over to the Hilton Garden Inn to check in for Friday and Saturday night.  My room marked with an idiot...

     More rain made its way into the area that night.  I caught a break in the weather and got my camp set up Saturday morning.  Overall the weather on Saturday was crap, causing havoc to all the aircraft trying to get in.  Most traffic was diverted, and when the weather cleared the mad scramble to arrive was a nightmare for the inbound pilots.  I was glad I didn't have to worry about it; I stayed in my hotel room and planned out my week on the AirVenture app.  There was a landing incident that occurred Saturday evening; I didn't see it happen but I saw the emergency vehicles converge on the scene from my hotel room.  Apparently a Vari-Eze had its landing gear collapse.  I was unable to get any details on the incident; I could only speculate based on my photos.  Took advantage of a break in the weather to catch an interesting sunset that evening.

     I didn't sleep well Saturday night and was up very early, so I got some pre-packing done and waited for breakfast service to begin at 7:00.  I did manage to get in a nap before I had to check out and head to camp.  I finished outfitting my tent and did some preliminary exploring before heading over to the Homebuilt Camping Pavilion for the HBC Beer Tasting event.  I dropped off my usual donation of Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout one hour early so that it could be iced down, then walked around the area looking at RVs and other interesting aircraft.  I caught a great photo sequence of Jason Seavolt and his beautiful RV-8 getting marshalled all over the place against the flow of incoming aircraft as he worked his way from Homebuilt Camping over to the Garmin tent where the aircraft was on display all week.  The Beer Tasting was fun and I did it right this year, trying different brews instead of only sampling my own supply.  Had dinner at the SOS Brothers tent and went back to camp.  Fell asleep early, but woke up too early.  Nothing else to do, so I wrote a song.  Stay tuned for the music video; I should get it made before this year is out.

     I had camped along a drainage area, thinking that nobody would be able to camp on the other side as it was too narrow.  I was wrong.  People wedged in there, and some even made the mistake of trying to drive through the soggy drainage.  This guy went roaring past my tent in the middle of the night.  I will admit to being amused when I saw him stuck Monday morning.

     I went over to the Van's tent that morning to pick up my banquet tickets, then patrolled the east display area taking photos before attending the first of three Garmin G3X seminars that took place Monday through Wednesday.  I had attended last year, but thought it would be helpful to review them again.  Danny King and Jason Seavolt both had their aircraft on display, and I talked to them both a few times during my visits for the seminars.  After the Garmin seminar,  I attended another seminar at the Superior Air Parts tent on engine longevity that was presented by Steven Boggess of RAM Aircraft.  From there I went over to the main vendor display hangars and said hello to my friends at Barrett, Aerotronics and Grove.  I grabbed some lunch before heading back to camp to watch the airshow.  I had chosen my location because it was adjacent to what I hoped was an open farm field.  As it turned out, there was a line of trees and bushes along the border that partially obscured my view to the east.  Less than ideal... but adequate.  Before the airshow ended I worked my way over to the VAF social and had a good time hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones.  Afterward I attended the premiere of the movie Spitfire and caught a great sunset before retiring.

     Tuesday morning I went to the Garmin tent, talked with Jason Seavolt and attended the second G3X seminar before heading over to the homebuilt and warbird areas to take more photos.  I met Ron Fagen by his P-40 Aleutian Tiger and shared my own P-40 stories with him.  I also met Trent Palmer at the Kitfox tent at 1:00 p.m. and visited with the guys at the Synergy Air tent before heading back to camp to watch the airshow.  The Van's Banquet was held that evening at the Nature Center Pavilion.  I arrived early and watched the Wildcat and Spitfire fly their airshow routines from there.  The Wildcat knocked off his flight early; I heard him make a radio call that he didn't like the way his engine was sounding, but he landed safely.  The banquet was another fine meal with friends and featured videos from Van and a presentation on flight test safety by Nigel Speedy.

     I went to bed early, and woke up very early Wednesday morning.  I took a walk and watched another great sunrise before heading up to Pioneer Airport for my usual helicopter ride.  I always pay for two circuits, and I flew with Darwin Barrie, a friend from VAF who is one of the Bell 47 pilots.

     From there I rode my bike over to the airshow grounds and arrived at the Brown Arch just in time to get into the EAA chapters group photo before attending my final day at the G3X seminar, saying hi to Danny King beforehand as I usually did.  I chatted with Kermit Weeks at his Kermit's Corner in the EAA Merchandise building and attended Budd Davisson's Landing a Pitts seminar.  Back in March I had made arrangements with Budd to get some Pitts training from him this coming November.  We had spoken briefly on the phone Saturday, and we also talked after his seminar.

     I went back to the Aerotronics booth with a few questions for Jason Smith.  The next event I planned to attend was the Gallagher beer fest at the same location that the VAF Social was held.  This location is close to the bus terminal and the pedestrian entrance I was using.  Rather than ride my bike all the way back to camp then back to the beer fest, I rode a bus back to camp, ran some errands and caught another bus back in time to attend the Gallagher event.  More beer and food with friends before heading back to camp with rain threatening.  The night airshow was supposed to be Wednesday night but was cancelled when a thunderstorm rolled in around 9:30.  I was safe in my tent and captured some audio and video of the storm, which lasted about two hours.  After that, I was dealing with a different storm of family drama via phone, which kept me from sleeping soundly.  I eventually drifted off for a couple of hours until after sunrise.

     Thursday started with an unusual incident.  There are some new facilities in Camp Scholler including new Red Barn store locations, putting them within walking distance of most campers.  I walked up to the store for my usual routine of getting coffee and ice.  As I approached the coffeemaker station I noticed that coffee was leaking from somewhere; it had puddled on the counter and dripped off the front, and the coffeemaker was hissing.  I pointed it out to the staff; one worker tried to lift one of the carafes and the bottom broke out, sending hot coffee splashing everywhere.  Fortunately no one was scalded.  They couldn't figure out what happened, but I surmised that while trying to return the carafe to the burner, someone had probably bumped it on the metal corner of the coffeemaker.  This had started a small crack that propagated with the heating of the carafe.  Although it started leaking, gravity held the carafe together until the worker had tried to lift it.  They agreed it was a plausible scenario and thankfully it was only one of four carafes at the two coffeemakers, so coffee service was only interrupted by the cleanup and therefore further grief and tragedy for the uncaffeinated masses was averted.

     I took it easy Thursday morning, talking with friends and fellow campmates.  I took a shower after the morning rush and eventually took a bus to the show grounds.  My main goal of the morning was to meet up with Jason Miller and Steve Thorne at the Foreflight booth.  These meet and greets can get very crowded, so I got there early and talked with numerous Foreflight staffers, learning a lot in the process.  Jason was the first to arrive and I was the first one to talk to him.  He is a dedicated instructor at San Carlos Airport and produces The Finer Points series of podcasts, videos and seminars.  We've communicated through social media but this was the first time I met him in person.  He remembered me and we talked briefly about our love of flying in the Bay Area.  One of my future goals is to get some instruction with him, just as I will with Budd Davisson.  I reiterated that promise to him; it's not if, but when.  I'd love to attend his Mountain Flying seminar and also get some Bay Area time with him.  Steve Thorne (Flight Chops) showed up next and we talked briefly.  He pointed out that Dave Carrick was with him, which was an added bonus.  Dave is the flight ops director for the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association, where Steve is getting a lot of his warbird time built up.  The CH2A is located in Windsor; I had joined up when Amy and I went there in 2016 to see Steve's first solo flight in a DHC-1B Chipmunk.  I upgraded to Pilot status in 2018 and had been waiting for a chance to get my own Chipmunk time, so it was good to get a chance to discuss it with Dave in person.  My selfie with Dave was one of my worst (I was talking as I took it) but oh well... the moment was captured.

     I took the bus back to camp to chill and watch the airshow before riding the bike to the my usual entrance and walking to the forums area to attend the YouTube and Social Media in Aviation panel.  Steve Thorne, Jason Miller, Steveo1Kinevo, Sarah Rovner, Chris Palmer, Matt Guthmiller, Josh Flowers and J.P. Schulze all sat down with microphones, introduced themselves and fielded questions from the fairly large audience.  I sat near the front, got some nods from those that recognized me and managed to get in a few questions.  It was an interesting presentation.

     When the panel ended I relocated my bike to a different entrance and started walking south through the vintage area.  I was hoping to see Kermit Weeks at a WWI engine starting event, but I think I got erroneous information from the AirVenture app and was unable to locate it; it may have even taken place on a different day.  So I began to wander my way toward the ultralight field.  The Flying Musicians were hosting an open jam at the Ultralight Red Barn that evening that I wanted to check out.  But I was running early so I took my time, taking photos as I went.  When I got to the venue nobody was setting up yet, so I went over to watch the ultralight field to watch the planes in the pattern.  Somehow I managed to miss a couple big things.  While I was in the bathroom an aircraft had its left axle break on touchdown.  It veered left and ran into the perimeter fence.  No one was hurt but the planes in the air had to circle while the ground crew figured out what to do with the broken aircraft as it wasn't easily moved.  Eventually they let the planes land and the field closed early.  The other big thing I missed was an aircraft I had been looking forward to seeing: Draco, a Wilga STOL aircraft that was transformed by Mike Patey into a turbine powered, new-winged, big red excellent monster.  It totally slipped my mind while I was there.  Although it didn't fly that night it was parked at the south end of the field, but since I didn't feel like walking down there I totally missed it.  I went back over to the venue and musicians were beginning to set up... but there were no drums.  The host of the event offered to let me use his electronic drum pad and kick trigger, but I wasn't really comfortable with that and politely declined.

     Discouraged and starting to feel a bit unwell, I figured I'd catch the tram south so I wouldn't have to walk so far back to the bike.  On my way I went over to the flight line to catch some interesting planes taking off.  I arrived at the tram station and saw a sign that the trams would stop running at 7:30 to accommodate the rescheduled night airshow.  I looked at my watch: 7:34.  There were still people standing in line... surely they'd pick up the last people waiting.  Surely they wouldn't just pull up, offload people and shut down the tractors.  Surely, they did just that... without a word to any of us.  We all wandered away, slightly bewildered.  I had gone out of my way to try to save a bit of walking... and now I had to walk even further.  It was slightly tempting to stay for the night airshow, but I just wasn't feeling up to it.  I was tired and just wanted to rest at that point, so I walked out as as thousands walked in, got on my bike and rode back to camp while enjoying another cool sunset.  I had a beer and a snack and watched the night airshow before getting a good night's sleep.

     Friday began with the best alarm clock ever: the roar of P-51 Mustangs buzzing Camp Scholler.  My plan for the morning was to visit the EAA Museum.  I stayed there for a few hours, enjoying some new displays including the original Van's RV-1.  I dutifully found the Chapter 113 patch on the Chapter Map.  I sat in the T-28 cockpit and spent a while in the Paul Poberezny section, following his development as a pilot and leader of the EAA through the artifacts and exhibits.  I found out the Museum control tower was accessible through the Kidventure exhibit which I had never explored before.  I enjoyed hanging out up there, taking photos, watching the helicopter rides come and go talked for a while with one of the museum volunteers.  The main hangar floor was being prepared for the EAA Awards Banquet so access was limited.  But the upper deck allowed some viewing of that area and I checked out the Nose Art displays.  Dick Rutan was by the Voyager display giving his presentation.  I was tempted to stay for that, but I had come in at the middle; I'd seen it before and met him afterward, so I didn't feel the need to linger this time.

     Midday I headed to the airshow grounds for lunch and some photos from the flight line.  John Maxwell was one of the Ford Trimotor pilots and I got a few candid photos of him working.  Also caught a few other interesting aircraft.

     I stopped by the Titan Aircraft/Whirl Wind Aviation display; the Whirl Wind crew wasn't there but I talked for a while with the Titan guys.  It was neat to see the aircraft I'd seen at the factory at OSH, plus some new ones I hadn't seen before.  I couldn't resist heading over to get comparison photos of the same paint scheme on an actual P-51.  Looks like the painter of the Titan aircraft did a good job.

     Eventually I made my way back to camp to hang out with friends and watch the afternoon airshow.  The B-17 Aluminum Overcast and B-29 Doc were the highlights of the show, and luckily their circuits brought them right over us.  Took a LOT of photos, and caught a few gems.

     Friday evening I went to the Chapter 113 Dinner that was held at the Chapter Pavilion again.  Sadly this year just before AirVenture we lost Jim Trick.  He and Nancy started the tradition of the OSH Thursday Night Spaghetti Feed and were wonderful hosts to chapter members for many years.  So once everyone was there, John Maxwell read a stirring tribute to Jim and we all drank a toast to Jim's honor.  We had the event catered this year and the food was excellent.  We made the most of it, and had a good time.

     Friday night I went to bed relatively early, knowing I wanted to get up early to break camp.  I rose with the sun, got some coffee and breakfast, and packed up.  Just before leaving Camp Scholler I gave some assistance to a fellow camper who needed to jump start his car after using it to power his CPAP machine overnight.  The punchline was that the car was a Toyota Prius!  I thought those cars were mostly battery... but apparently, the gas engine's starter and all accessories are powered by a regular car battery, not the huge banks used for the drive motors.  Somehow, that cracked me up... having to jump-start a Prius made my morning.  After departing, I went to the seaplane base and took in the sights.  Granted, the Martin Mars wasn't there this year, but there were still a lot of beautiful and interesting aircraft to see.  It was relatively crowded that time of day, and you have to get there early to get the prime viewing spots to see aircraft arrive and depart.  I missed out on some of it, but caught enough to make the journey worthwhile.  I usually don't include a lot of seaplane photos, but these are some of the best photos I got all week, so I'll share a decent selection here.

     This year I had extra time available before I wanted to be at Manitowoc, so I decided to do a little bit more exploring around Fond Du Lac.  I was glad I did; I discovered Lakeside Park with its open lighthouse.  The weather was perfect and the views were spectacular.  If I lived in the area this would be a regular destination for me.  I could have hung out there for hours.

     I stopped at another favorite vista point on the east side of Lake Winnebago.  Didn't take many photos; I already have a lot, so I just stayed and enjoyed the view.  On the way from the lake to Manitowoc I took the time to stop in the town of Chilton and walk around a bit.  A neat little town with quaint architecture, a cool waterfall park and a pretty amusing electronic bank sign... at least I thought so.

     Upon arriving at Manitowoc, I followed my usual routine, settling into the Courthouse Pub for a few hours of beer, food, amusement and relaxation.  I met new servers and was also greeted by Eric, my server from years past that has become a friend.  I met one of the new owners, Brock Weier.  A good guy with a great attitude, he sat down with me for a few minutes and we talked about business and my now-infamous music video.  He watched it in his office and made a point of coming back and thanking me for sharing it.  From there I was off to Fat Seagull Fest; this year the featured band was Conscious Pilot.  Great band name... and a great band.  I took some photos, did some recording and talked to some of the band members, especially the drummer.  I sent them photos on Facebook, but they haven't asked for a copy of the recording yet.  Their loss; it's a pretty good recording.

     When the band wrapped it up I headed to the truck, drove the mile to the ferry dock and got in line.  The nearly full moon rose over the harbor, shining in a stunning orange color.  I had to dig out the tripod and try to capture it.  I'm still not a great night photographer, but it was worth the try.  The ferry arrived on schedule and I was surprised how few passengers were sailing that night.  The purser said there were maybe eighty people on board; combined with the beautiful weather it made for a peaceful night.  That was fine by me, because I was tired and peace was just what I needed.

     I slept my way across Lake Michigan and woke up in time to watch us approach Ludington with the sun rising and the moon setting.  I was rested enough that the journey home was no problem.  I stopped into Shirlene's Cuisine in Midland for breakfast and was home by 10:30.

     WAIT A MINUTE!  IT'S NOT THE END YET!  Don't worry, it's almost the end... but there's one last thing I want to share.  I believe it was Friday morning and I happen to use a port-a-potty I hadn't used before.  Standing at the urinal I saw something you rarely see at AirVenture.  No, not that... I'm talking about bathroom graffiti.  This particular piece of artwork seemed somehow appropriate for AirVenture, so it captured my attention.

     For those of you who aren't familiar, this harkens back to WWII.  It was originally started by James J. Kilroy, a shipyard inspector at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, MA.  He would draw the familiar face peering over a wall with fingers and a big nose hanging over, and write the words "Kilroy was here" to indicate he had inspected that area of the ship.  The logos were supposed to be painted over, but in the rush of wartime production many ships went out with the logos intact.  Servicemen aboard the ship were intrigued by the logos; they had no idea what they meant, but it soon became very popular graffiti in all the places American soldiers went.  A recent trend has been to revive the logo with the words, "Kilroy Lives" in remembrance of the American G.I. and his sacrifice for our country.  So it seem fitting that Kilroy should make an appearance in an AirVenture port-a-potty.  But I found it inspirational for another reason.  As I left the port-a-potty, I knew I had to do something.  I had to make the logo reflective of the age we currently struggle in.  I went to my truck, got a sharpie, went back to the port-a-potty and added one more word:

     Ok, I admit it.  Sometimes my sense of humor is kinda dumb, but I don't care.  For the rest of my life, remembering this graffiti and my addition to it will always make me laugh.

     So that was my OSH 2018.  I'm not sure if I'll be attending OSH next year, or taking any other vacations for that matter.  I have to focus on getting the airplane built, painted, at the hangar, assembled and flying, and that will take precedence.  In fact I should be working on it right now, but instead I'm getting this blog caught up... and I still have to do the entry that will bring construction up to date.  I better get this published and start on that entry right away.  Bye.  Talk to you in a few minutes...