I've been hearing about the goodness of AirVenture since 2003 and decided I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about (damnit). With Burt Rutan and Bob Hoover tributes, this year was destined to be huge. It also gave me leverage to sway Ced into accepting that we could not possibly miss out on this promising event. With tickets in hand, we began our travel to Wisconsin and our very first official vacation.
Our travel plans brought us to Las Vegas to catch a flight to Wisconsin. I have to indulge in this step because it was our first time there. We stayed in the MGM Hotel and Casino and spent time wandering around the casino floor.
Growing up near Casino Row in south Mississippi, I had been in and around casinos and knew a little of what kind of atmosphere to expect. Ced had never been in any gambling facility, so he was excited to finally experience the night life. With the sensory overload of electronic whirs, beeps, flashing lights, and digital dealers, we kept to the edges of the floor getting a feel for the layout and scoping out potential eateries. Roaming from end to end of the MGM Grand, the desperation of the trapped gamblers hoping to hit it big became palpable and we were overcome with an immediate need to get the hell out. So we did.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we were able to settle into our campsite in time to catch the afternoon airshow. Standing among throngs of spectators, we got to see some amazing formation flying.
We scoped out FiFi, the world's only flying B-29 Superfortress.
This group of skydivers was quite eclectic. There were two planes circling the group on the way down, which made the sky extremely busy.
On we went to check out the static displays. Here's a five cylinder rotary engine. I thought it looked a little funny, so I took a picture.
The Glacier Girl was on display with lots of informative storyboards. While reading them, several people would run up, snap a photo of the storyboard, and move on. It was as if saying they were too terribly busy to bother reading a paragraph of text, but promised to do it later.
We saw lots and lots of warbirds. I've yet to remember the species and breed of every flying vehicle (sorry, it's easier for me to think in biological terms).
Several of Burt's aircraft were on display. Here's the Soiltaire and V-Jet II in the midground. Far in the back left is Catbird and Grizzly is on the right. I neglected to get photographs of all of the aircraft (unfortunately), but Starship, Boomerang, several Defiants and LongEZs were also there.
When dinner rolled around, we opted to partake in the Cozy Girrrl's Spaghetti Bash. Although we were in tight quarters, it was nice to see a bunch of like-minded homebuilders in one area. We were both too shy to try to strike up much of a conversation with anyone, though. So we scarfed our spaghetti and moved on.
Over the next few days we sat in on several forums, saw the airshows, skimmed over the vendors, ate lots of ice cream, and went to the EAA Museum.
The displays at the museum were incredible. Of course, there was a lot to look at and not enough time. I snapped photos of some of the more memorable aircraft on display.
This guy has to be my favorite.
Thursday was dedicated to Burt Rutan. He gave multiple talks, Boomerang and Starship flew, and there was a program at night looking over his career and accomplishments.
Saturday we managed to make it to the seaplane camp.
After ogling these water birds, we packed up and headed to Milwaukee to catch our flight home. I was definitely feeling the sensory overload of aviation and was looking forward to a recovery day of non-airplaneness. We made it back to Vegas where we stayed at this absurd hotel/casino:
In the morning we eagerly escaped the clutches of Sin City and drove the long four hours back home. Overall, I'm glad I finally got to experience Oshkosh and all that it is. I got to experience the fervor of aviation buffs in their element and share in the excitement of seeing great aircraft on display and in the air. Most importantly, though, we ended up meeting a lot more Cozy builders and heard their horror and success stories. Listening to other builders' experiences renewed our motivation to keep up our progress on our Cozy. Together we made a pact for our next visit to Oshkosh to be in our airplane.
