Worlds Busiest Tower for 1 week.OSHKOSH 2010 REPORT
Monday and Tuesday were hot, in the high 80’s. With pure sunshine and plenty of humidity. That was not the case for several days preceding the opening of the show. Oshkosh (OSH) had torrential rain storms that flooded and closed the airport. Standing water had to be pumped from the camping areas and plane parking areas that were on the grass. Airplanes were diverted to Fond Du
Lac and Appleton. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that planes were allowed in to OSH. The larger campers were not allowed into the grass camping lots. Both planes and campers were sinking into the mud. It wasn’t until Tuesday that the classic plane area filled up and the warbird area was still half empty.
This years show is in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the DC3. On Monday at 3PM the DC3’s took off in formation and proceeded to fly single file back into OSH all performing wheel landings. The last three did a break for landing that was both slow and beautiful.I was very fortunate to have access to one of these DC3’s. The people I was with knew one of the owners of a DC3 that flew in from Atlanta. We were given the deluxe tour of this beautiful aircraft. This DC3 was the Candler Field Express. Candler Field was the name of the Atalanta Airport before being renamed Atlanta Hartsfield Airport.
DC3 and Cockpit
When I first attended OSH in 2008, I interviewed a lot of attendees and asked them why they kept returning to OSH. The response was to see friends made over the years. I truly believe that. Of course there was also an unbelievable gathering of airplanes and vendors. On Monday I met a woman from New Orleans whose husband is building an RV7. There is a support group for RV builders on the WEB. This gentleman went to the RV builders group workshop and had an opportunity to meet in person all those he had been emailing over the past year for advise. He just acquired over 100 new friends. Another gentleman I talked to was 95 years old and a retired PanAM pilot. His daughter recently retired from FedEx as a Captain. I could have listened to his stories about his flying adventures for weeks.
Our first day at OSH we went hard from 7AM until 5PM. We were so worn out we skipped the Chicago concert and went back to our Motel and slept until a late dinner. There were several cancellations and our Motel was half empty. We stay in Waupun which is 26 miles south of OSH. On the way to OSH there is a restaurant,Tabberts, in Rosendale that serves the best breakfast I have ever had. The dinners were great too. We all had french toast that cost $2 and coffee for $1.25. I wish we had a place like this in Scottsdale. The people in WI were friendly and great to chat with.
The only negative in 2010 at OSH was the same one I encountered in 2008. There are volunteers everywhere at OSH. However they are not well versed where things are located at the show. They need some better training! What good are they if they don’t know anything.
Our three favorite areas remained the same as 2008. They are the Classics, Warbirds and Sea Plane Port at Lake Winnebago. Below are pictures of each areas.
f
Beech Staggerwing
This Beech Staggerwing was was purchased as a burned airplane. Two brothers and their Father spent years restoring this airplane. When it was completed their Dad passed away. The Brothers have kept this plane absolutely beautiful.
Cessna 195
Curtis Robbins
No comments:
Post a Comment