OSHKOSH...WHERE THE OUTSIDE WORLD DOES NOT EXIST FOR 7 DAYS

No matter what you call it...OSH, Oshkosh or EAA Air Adventure- it is the greatest General aviation show on earth. For 7 days or more the outside world ceases to exist. Why I say 7 days or more is because people tend to arrive early for this event. I know people who arrive as early as the Friday before, but then there are those who arrive even earlier in their campers and tents. I was not able to attend this years event, or the previous two years to that, due to family medical situations, but I am not left out in the cold on what is happening at the event. Through social media I am able to see the airshows; listen to podcasts; see videos and pictures from my friends, AOPA, EAA and several aviation news sources. There are four buildings with vendors goods. The announcements are fast and furious of new products at, or just before, OSH. Garmin seems to be at the forefront again this year announcing two low cost autopilots for legacy aircraft. Previous to OSH Garmin also introduced new HSI and Attitude indicators, the G5, that can sync to these autopilots. When I say low cost I mean $7,000 for a digital autopilot. The lowest cost autopilot with altitude hold that I could by before was $30,000. Two other vendors announced autopilots for legacy aircraft, but Garmin blew away the competition. If I was younger I would plan on installing these 3 Garmin products in my Bonanza. Spending $15,000 to $20,000 just does not sense for me not knowing how much longer I will be flying. If I was 10-15 years younger it would be a no brainer, and I would be first in line. Another interesting product I heard about is transforming a Bose Audio headset into an aviation headset. The headset runs around $300 retail and the conversion is $275 to make this a full aviation headset. The manufacture is backed ordered for 10 months. I do not know if they are just too small to handle the business. This would be perfect for my wife as the weight is a lot lighter than an A 20 Bose aviation headset. It is supposed to have 80% hearing ANR of the A 20 which is more than acceptable to me. Dynon has a glass panel that is now STC'd for legacy aircraft with digital autopilot and ADS-B. I also heard that there will be new weather products in about 6 months for ADS-B, of course the FAA has stated this for the past two years so we will see. Speaking of the FAA, they still refuse to turn on ADS-B for all to see traffic on ADS-B In. As I have said for years the FAA motto is safety, but they do not practice what they preach. I miss seeing the group fly-ins of different manufactures planes. There are always cool airplanes to see at OSH. Lectures on current issues and workshops how to build your own airplane are in abundance. The thing I miss most about OSH is seeing my friends from across the country that are involved in aviation. Some I have met at OSH, some are longtime personal friends and some are social media friends that I have never met in person. So next year I will plan to be back. Only time will tell.