AirVenture 2007

We flew for a couple of hours into a pretty good headwind. Arjan, who had the XM Satellite weather on his 396, could see a line of thunderstorms approaching. So we landed at Richard Downing airport in Coshocton, Ohio (I40), which we knew nothing about, to let the thunderstorms pass through.

Coshocton has a nice, modern FBO facility. The people inside were very friendly and, can you believe it, cooked up a pancake & bacon breakfast for our group of 10 people or so. For free. How's that for friendliness?

The current weather and forecast didn't look too particularly good to get from Ohio to Chicago to Oshkosh. No more thunderstorms but clouds and maybe some rain. Rather than watching TV in the FBO building all day, we just decided to go and stick our noses in it. And the weather turned out to be not so bad. At one point in Indiana, we had to descend to get below a layer that was forming, and fly through some rain at 1000 AGL. But then we were through, and into the sunshine, as you can see here at Porter County Municipal Airport in Valparaiso, Indiana (KVPZ).

Soon we were over Lake Michigan with the Chicago skyline in sight.

Then it was on to the town of Ripon and follow the railroad tracks to Wittman Field, Oshkosh. Hunter, my passenger, took these images of the Oshkosh arrival. Which was intense. I'm glad he was taking pictures because I was busy flying the plane and looking out for traffic -- no time for sightseeing. I was following Mike and Arjan in their RVs which was a lot better than getting stuck behind a really slow plane.

Here I am turning onto downwind for 27.

On final for the green dot. You can see the P-51 Mustang has turned off the runway onto the grass just forward left of the green dot. Only at Oshkosh is landing behind a P-51 not unusual.

We made it! Here's my RV in its North 40 parking spot.

We were all exhilarated after the intense and exciting Oshkosh arrival. And happy to be here.

AirVenture 2009 - To Oshkosh
On Tuesday, I flew for four hours, ending with the Hobbs meter reading 40.1. So ended the last two months of effort flying off the test period hours, installing the gear fairings and wheel pants, and completing the paint job. I had wanted to repolish the RV but simply ran out of time. Late afternoon Friday I flew the RV to Montgomery County airport (KGAI) where I spent the night at Mike's house. GAI is in the Washington D.C. Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA -- the symbol formerly known as Prince, I mean ADIZ). It had been a couple of years since I've flown into the ADIZ/SFRA but it was like riding a bike -- came right back. Saturday morning we got up at some ridiculous hour and were taxiing out by 0700. I was flying in company with Mike/Karen in their RV-7A and Arjan/Bruce in their RV-8. I had Karen's son Hunter in my plane. A Cessna Cardinal and 172 had left earlier than us. Here I am taxiing out just after engine start. It was kind of thrilling. It's so much more fun doing something like this with other airplanes vice doing it by yourself.

We flew for a couple of hours into a pretty good headwind. Arjan, who had the XM Satellite weather on his 396, could see a line of thunderstorms approaching. So we landed at Richard Downing airport in Coshocton, Ohio (I40), which we knew nothing about, to let the thunderstorms pass through. Coshocton has a nice, modern FBO facility. The people inside were very friendly and, can you believe it, cooked up a pancake & bacon breakfast for our group of 10 people or so. For free. How's that for friendliness?

This Pitts -- also heading to Oshkosh -- came right in after us and bugged out soon after the storm passed through. Later on I would see him through a hole in the broken layer of clouds. You can see my RV to the right of the Pitts. Fortunately I had bought a used canopy cover long before the canopy of my RV even existed. I soon realized on this trip it is an essential piece of cross-country gear!

The current weather and forecast didn't look too particularly good to get from Ohio to Chicago to Oshkosh. No more thunderstorms but clouds and maybe some rain. Rather than watching TV in the FBO building all day, we just decided to go and stick our noses in it. And the weather turned out to be not so bad. At one point in Indiana, we had to descend to get below a layer that was forming, and fly through some rain at 1000 AGL. But then we were through, and into the sunshine, as you can see here at Porter County Municipal Airport in Valparaiso, Indiana (KVPZ).

I had stopped here six years ago while flying the Citabria to Oshkosh.

The RVs looking pretty in the sunshine.

The local EAA Chapter were selling burgers and brats to those making the trek to Oshkosh. It seemed as if everyone was making the trek to Oshkosh on this day.

Soon we were over Lake Michigan with the Chicago skyline in sight.

Chicago has a scenic skyline; that's about the only nice thing I'm going to say about this corrupt city.

Then it was on to the town of Ripon and follow the railroad tracks to Wittman Field, Oshkosh. Hunter, my passenger, took these images of the Oshkosh arrival. Which was intense. I'm glad he was taking pictures because I was busy flying the plane and looking out for traffic -- no time for sightseeing. I was following Mike and Arjan in their RVs which was a lot better than getting stuck behind a really slow plane. Here I am turning onto downwind for 27.

Remember, it is only Saturday, and AirVenture doesn't officially start until Monday. You can see a lot of empty space. Even so, the North 40 is already halfway filled. The homebuilt parking area is practically empty though.

Here's a good look at the North/South runway.

Now I'm turning base. Just prior to this, the tower had me do a left 360 circle to give time for a P-51 Mustang to land. You can see the orange and green dots on runway 27. It's not unsual to have planes landing on the two dots simultaneously.

On final for the green dot. You can see the P-51 Mustang has turned off the runway onto the grass just forward left of the green dot. Only at Oshkosh is landing behind a P-51 not unusual.

This is the Warbird parking area which is pretty sparse at this point.

We made it! Here's my RV in its North 40 parking spot. We were all exhilarated after the intense and exciting Oshkosh arrival. And happy to be here.

First thing to do is tie down the plane, then set up the tent. A tie-down kit of some sort is another essential item for Oshkosh.

Previously, I've always camped at Camp Scholler. This was my first time at the North 40 and I loved it! At night although the highway was surprisingly loud at least you didn't have to listen to hundreds of generators. The winds during the entire week were from the West and so we could watch planes endlessly taking off from runway 27. You miss this completely if you stay in the main AirVenture area and Camp Scholler.
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AirVenture 2009 - To Oshkosh