| by |
Joe Godfrey |
Actually, throw another 254 brats on the barbie.
AirVenture Oshkosh 1998 was officially opened this afternoon
when an Air New Zealand 747-400 landed at Wittman Field at 1341.
The flight was carrying 254 passengers from six countries who
gathered in Sydney, Australia, stopped in Los Angeles, and then
continued on to Oshkosh—Nineteen hours flying time. Gee, some
people will go to incredible lengths to avoid the Ripon arrival.
The tour is organized by Dave Thomas, proud long-time
EAA member from down under. He gets help from Marya Phillips,
who has as much energy and
personality as you can cram into four feet eleven
inches. This is the fifth trip of its kind and they must be doing
something right because the passengers applauded them after deplaning
at OSH. After 19 hours on an airplane, that's no small feat.
Dave organized the first group tour in 1981 after
he attended his first
Oshkosh airshow the year before. He filled the seats
of a Quantas 747-100 with a group of 265 aviation enthusiasts
and filled the cargo bay with 12 Australian homebuilt aircraft.
The runway at Oshkosh wasn't long enough in 1981 to handle a 747,
so the plane landed at Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. While most
of the group finished the trip by bus, the pilots of the 12 homebuilts
reassembled their airplanes and flew the last leg to Oshkosh,
then repeated the procedure for the trip home.
The next trip, in 1989, established a lot of firsts
in AirVenture history that still stand. It was the longest charter
flight to arrive at Oshkosh. It was the largest group of people
to arrive in a single airplane. It was the most pilots to arrive
in a single airplane. And, it was the first widebody airplane
to land at (what's now called )Wittman field. The next trip, in
1992, brought a full load of 396. The next trip, in 1995, brought
another full load of 396 and was the first landing at OSH of a
747-400 series. Australian carrier Quantas hauled the first four
trips. This year is the first time that Air New Zealand is the
carrier. Judging by the smiles from the happy passengers, it's
now ANZ's job to lose. The group will spend a few days at Oshkosh
as a group, then split up. Some will return home, others will
continue their vacations (or holidays, as they call them) and
see some more of North America.
Dave would rather have brought a full load this time,
too, but the strength of the U.S. dollar doubled the price of
the trip from 1995. He's hoping that situation will change before
the next trip planned for 2001. He wishes he could generate enough
interest to bring a group every year, but the numbers just don't
add up. Nonetheless, he throws down the gauntlet to other countries
to fill a 747 with passengers bound for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
Just once. So far, Australia is the only country that's been able
to do it.
Australians are known for their hospitality, but
they may have met their match in Oshkosh. Mayor Melanie Bloechl
turned out to welcome this group, as did the founder of EAA, Paul
Poberezny. Air New Zealand presented Paul with a desktop model
of a 747 in ANZ colors.
One thing's for sure. Between the Australians and the Cheeseheads,
they'd better keep the breweries working late.
One of the stories at Oshkosh is how people from
worlds apart can share their love of flying. 254 people from Australia are
about to find that out. Welcome to Oshkosh. No worries, mate.
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