AirVenture 2011- Transit To Oshkosh

 Bruce and I loaded up the RV -- I wasn't sure if the tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses, folding chairs and bags would all fit but somehow we got them all in -- and headed west.  Weather was a little better than forecast and we had no problems although it wasn't what I would call great conditions.

About a third of the way to Oshkosh, we stopped at Richard Downing airport in Coshocton, Ohio (I40) to stretch our legs and have a coffee.  

We stopped again about two thirds of the way at Porter County, Valparaiso, Indiana  (KVPZ).  I like to stop here on the way to Oshkosh since the local EAA chapter has a food booth and it is a good place to top off so you have lots of gas going into Wittman Field.

    
We came out of the FBO building to find the 1911 Curtiss Pusher on the ramp.  Built by a retired Navy Commander for the 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation, I had seen it fly at Massey Aerodrome.  Like us, the Curtiss Pusher was en-route to AirVenture 2011.  We talked with one of the pilots, Andrew King, who we know from gliders. 
    
Weather was blocking our desired route along the Chicago shoreline, so we continued west and looped around Chicago to the south.  The low ceiling over Porter Country broke up about 10 miles to the west and it was severe clear the rest of the way to Oshkosh. 
 
The sky was empty until we neared Ripon -- a small town that is the initial point for the approach procedure to Wittman Field -- and suddenly there were planes all over the place.  I managed to insert myself in the line of planes following the railroad track out of Ripon.  There were planes in line ahead of me as far as I could see!  I was about half a mile behind a high-wing Cessna of some sort. 
 
Everything was going great when for some reason, the Cessna in front of me suddenly started went into a left-hand turn, pulling out of the line.  I continued on, but was watching the Cessna in his left-hand turn.  He kept coming around and I was thinking: he's not going to just come back into the line, is he?  Sure enough, he kept coming around until I must have been in the center of his windscreen -- I couldn't believe he didn't see me.  Finally, to avoid a mid-air, I had to take take evasive action -- diving and turning to the left.  So now I'm out of the line.  I flew parallel to the line in the opposite direction looking for a space in which to insert myself.  But it was just an endless stream of airplanes.  I ended up going all the way back to Ripon before I could get back in line.
 
The second time there were no hiccups and I made it to the next waypoint:  Fisk.  Over Fisk, approach asked me which runway I wanted -- 9 or 36 -- and I told him 36 since I figured that would make it easier to taxii to the homebuilt parking area.  They switchwed me to the Tower who was talking non-stop.  I followed the east-west road, got cleared to land on 36L yellow dot, and made a nice wheel landing.  Then the ground handlers directed me to the Homebuilt camping area where I lucked out, getting parked in the first row of homebuilt camping!  Last year I was not quite so lucky, getting parked in the second to the last row. 
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