Just got back to the island last night, after a stellar flight home from Iowa City, where we got my son married off.
In no particular order, here goes:
Pink shirts. Normally these guys and gals are rock stars at OSH. This year, I saw three of them all week, and there was a virtual donut of empty space around them in the crowd. It was as if no one knew what to say, so they said nothing. I almost felt sorry for them, but with a $447K bill to pay, and a wall-sized petition for members to sign, no one was in a pro-FAA mood.
Showers in the North 40. For the third year in a row, the first two days of the show the water was so hot that you literally could not stand to rinse yourself off. By day three, they got it figured out, but WTF?
EAA Ice Cream Truck? What a great idea! They drove through the North 40, giving away awesomely scrumptious ice cream sandwiches. Amazingly, they arrived at the peak of our HOPS party, and were mobbed by 40 - 60 party goers, all who were instantly turned into 8-year olds at the sight of an ice cream truck!
Electric Scooters These things are the devil's work. Originally intended for use by the disabled and the elderly, they have been coopted by the obese and the lazy. And they run up on your heels in the exhibit buildings like a pack of hyenas. I wish they would go away, right after...
Golf Carts. In recent years, EAA has made efforts to control the explosion of golf carts. This has been somewhat successful, but they are still EVERYWHERE, and are obviously awarded to those "in the know". For those of us on foot, or on bikes, they are to be feared, and loathed, by the end of the week.
Portapotty Doors. OSH veterans know not to let the door slam shut at oh-dark-thirty. OSH newbies do not. I was thankful to not be close to the potties this year, after listening to an endless performance of "BANG!" -- within earshot of dozens of campers. I guess this means we've got some new blood at OSH, which is good, but use some sense, folks.
Volunteers Most were wonderful. Some were rude, and a few were almost crazy with power. On the day BEFORE the show started, two of our group were prevented from entering the grounds by one uber-zealous woman volunteer because they were without wristbands -- which weren't any good until the show opened the next day. WTF?
Another practically jumped in front of my plane to prevent me from getting to my campsite, even though I had "Row 505" in the window, because "there were no open spots in that row" -- as if she had them all memorized! Ah, all my gear was there, set up, and I had to strongly cajole here to move aside. Crazy.
Weather As always, I packed six pairs of shorts, and one pair of long pants. Guess what got worn EVERY DAY? I've never seen a cooler OSH, and it was great! No sweating, and perfect sleeping temperature!
Aircraft It was an interesting year. No modern military stuff, and not a single P-38 Lightning. Again, the ME-262 was a no-show.
On the other hand, we had three Avengers, a slew of B-25s, three or four B-17s, a B-24, and the only flying B-29, so all was not lost.
The antiques had a good turnout, as always, although not as cool as the AAA fly-in in Blakesburg. Ultralights seemed to be staging a resurgence, after several down years. The crazy little helicopters are always a gas to watch.
Van's RVs continued to expand and expand. In ten years, they will make up the bulk of the show, at this rate of growth. It truly is amazing, and I was proud to be part of it.
Jetman What a yawn! I was really looking forward to this, but until he can figure out how to come down a few thousand feet, he will be nothing but a dot in the sky moving back and forth.
When he can do an inverted ribbon cut, ala Sean D. Tucker, let me know. Until then, it's nap time whenever he's flying.
Terrafugia The flying car flies! Finally! Very cool.
Night Airshows They are great, and best watched from the N40 campsite, with a few beers. Fighting the crowds in a poorly-lit flight line isn't worth it.
Bike Path EAA has finally built a bike path that connects the North 40 to Camp Scholler. This is great, but it's poorly marked, not well lit, and of various surfaces, some that are quite sketchy and exciting in the dark. I give EAA an "A" for the idea -- it makes getting across to Scholler possible, finally -- but the execution rates a "C", with more work needed.
Fisk Approach As usual, it was a complete non-event, even though I fell in line at Ripon behind a Breezy. That little SOB was actually able to do 90 knots! I was amazed, as this contraption managed to keep pace with everyone in line.
I was glad I practiced slow flight in the RV beforehand, and was happy to find that the incredibly tight base-to-final turn onto RWY 27 that occasionally caused us conniptions is now a complete non-event in the nimble little RV.
North 40 Grounds
I was disappointed to find that the grass had not been recently mowed, nor had the ruts from Sloshkosh two years ago been rolled out. These two things made for a tense taxi to parking in the RV, with it's small, tightly panted wheels. There were lots of green prop tips to be seen -- is it REALLY too much to ask that someone mow the grass?
Bad Spiff Idea/Stupid Parents
Some insurance company was handing out collapsible frisbees as a promotional item. These, of course, ended up in the hands of kids with lame-brained parents who let them use them near airplanes. Bad idea.
I thought Mary was going to eviscerate a couple of youngsters who were standing beneath the wing of an aircraft, having great fun oil canning the underside of the wing by pushing up, hard, and then releasing -- over and over and over. I don't know what she said to them, but they immediately stopped, and made a beeline out of the area.
Food
Well, the new Zaug's-less format was hit and miss. The Italian place rocked. The "Taste of"...places were a good idea.
However, the North 40 restaurant that was so wonderful last year was barely mediocre this year. They got rid of the buffet breakfast, which was able to handle hundreds of hungry pilots with ease, and replaced it with a made-to-order format that just couldn't keep up with demand. And the food all tasted like it had just fallen off the Sysco truck.
As if in lockstep, the Hilton's formerly fabulous buffet sucked this year, with absolutely appalling bakery and luke-warm everything. The made-to-order omelets were still great, thankfully, but everything else took a nose-dive.
Even Friar Tuck's, our go-to place for 25 years, wasn't up to snuff. The Little John sandwich -- their specialty, for crying out loud, looked awful as served to my son, and their signature baked french onion soup was only okay.
In an incredible blunder, the Seaplane Base broke a 15-year tradition by NOT hosting a Walleye pike fish fry on Friday night. I can't tell you how disappointed we were, and the crowd that was there seemed to be just as disgruntled as we were. I felt sorry for the new food vendor out there, who had to explain (probably six billion times) that they were not serving fish.
Finally, soft serve ice cream seemed harder to find on the grounds than in previous years. Since our kids have come to associate that ice cream with OSH, they search it out, and were glad to find it -- but it was like an Easter egg hunt, with fewer places serving it.
NOTAM Busters
As always, there were incredibly funny -- and embarrassing -- incidents of pilots who had clearly not read the NOTAM. The guys trying to call the tower on the way in, or on the way OUT (which amazes me) have NO idea how many people are listening on handhelds, laughing. I'm always impressed with how professionally the controllers handle these people.
Newbies
This was the first year my new daughter-in-law attended OSH for the entire week, camping with us. Unlike her husband, she was not raised around airplanes, nor did she ever camp, so this whole week was as foreign to her as it could get. Despite this, she was a trooper, suffering through the cold nights with nary a complaint.
And I saw LOTS of newbies this year, which was gratifying. At 54, I'm FINALLY starting to not look like the "young guy" on the field anymore!
All in all, #31 was our best year yet at Oshkosh. All grumbling aside, there is no place in the world like OSH, and I always shed a grateful tear when I arrive, as well as when I depart. It's simply the best place to be, and I am so happy to have put another one in the books.
