August 3, 1998 Oshkosh 1998 Coverage:
Day Seven — Monday, August 3 |
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AVweb provides exclusive daily coverage of AirVenture '98!
August 3, 1998
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News & Highlights
Oberstar Honored By NASAO
 The National Association of State Aviation Officials
announced the selection of Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) for the 1998 NASAO National
Award of Excellence during a luncheon held today in conjunction with the EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh. Oberstar, ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, was recognized for his tireless efforts in support of aviation throughout
his congressional career. The NASAO National Award of Excellence is the highest honor
NASAO can bestow upon an individual
"In his two decades of honorable service in the U.S. House of Representatives,
Rep. Oberstar has continiously demonstrated wise and visionary leadership in promoting a
safe and efficient national airway system," said NASAO president Henry Ogrodzinski.
"...All Americans have benfited from his distinguished public service."
GAMA Fends Off Redundant Fastener Legislation
 Ed Bolen, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers
Association, announced that the Senate had passed an exemption for major aviation
manufacturers to the Fastener Quality Act requirements. This exemption comes only months
after an announcement that the Act would finally be implemented on all fasteners in
October. The exemption will now go back to the House for passage, then signed into law by
the President sometime in August.
The Fastener Quality Act was legislated in the 1980s when there were a number of
non-aviation accidents traced back to substandard fasteners. Congress passed the Fastener
Quality Act which said that any fastener used in a critical application needs to be
inspected to standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
There have been so many problems with the Act that it has not been implemented in over
eight years.
Since aviation parts are subjected to more stringent testing than any other industry,
shipping parts off to NIST for testing is redundant. "We have successfully fended off
a very serious threat that would have delayed production and increased costs to the
consumer. It is another classic case of redundant legislation with no benefit to the
consumer," stated Bolen.
New RAM Filter Finds Fine Stuff
 RAM Aircraft Corp. introduced their new "20
Micron" oil filter at OSH. Initially the new filter is only available as a FAA-PMA
approved replacement for spin-on Champion filters on (what else?) Continental IO-520 and
TSIO-520 engines. The new filter uses high-efficiency fiberglass media to reportedly
filter 99% of 20 micron size particles compared with only 36% for the standard filter,
based on independent test lab results. This latest "super-filter" attempt is
priced at $60.
 AVweb's OSH '98 communications radios
provided courtesy of ICOM America. |
 A Merlin engine goes to
full power, the shattering sound crackling across the aircraft camping area at EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh. Your head snaps over, you take a look at the airplane and say,
"Oh, just another Mustang." At that point you realize it is OK to go home. Rick
Durden leaves OSH with little to complain about and a lot of great memories. Join him for
one more trip around the OSH pattern as he reflects on another AirVenture in the logbook.
It's been a long time since Nancy Hattaway Miller last visited the EAA Fly-In at
Oshkosh. Twenty-one years long, to be exact. Back then, she visiting because her boyfriend
wanted to go see the airshow. It was fun. She remembers purchasing sunscreen because she
forgot it, and getting a sunburn anyway. In 21 years, sunscreen has improved a lot, the
Fly-In has become AirVenture, and she’s started (and almost finished) her flight
training. On the last visit, she learned to bring sunscreen. On this visit, she learned a
lot more.
 One of the many exciting parts of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is the
opportunity to get a ride in a very special aircraft. Brent Blue had the good fortune to
catch a ride in the jump seat of Dick Thurman’s P-51 Mustang, "Tender, Slender,
and Tall." Even sitting in the back seat of this spectacular aircraft, you know
something is up when just spinning the starter shakes the whole aircraft. Once the
powerful Rolls Royce engine fires up, the ear splitting rumble is superb. The taxi out is
fun because everyone on the flight line is watching *you* taxi by!
 Walter Atkinson grabbed the OSH opportunity to fly the M-26
Airwolf built by PZL Mielec in Poland. Mielec built MIGs as a government entity during the
Cold War and is now functioning as a private company in the newly capitalistic regime. The
Airwolf has a Lycoming AEIO-540 (aerobatic, inverted, injected opposed) which is fully
capable of sustained inverted flight. The airframe is capable of +9/-6 Gz. Want to bet
Walt had a good time?
 For hundreds of EAA AirVenture devotees, their annual
pilgrimage is more than just a week of air shows, vendor booths, and sunburns. It's a
week-long visit to their second home at one of several commercial campsites within driving
distance of Oshkosh. Individuals and families that camp off-site return year after year to
not only the same campground, but the same campsite, setting up their fifth-wheels and
tents next to the same folks they've had as neighbors for years. Nancy Hattaway Miller
offers up the off-site experience for your consideration.
Another of the exciting opportunities available only at EAA AirVenture is meeting some
of the old-timers of experimental aviation such as Ken Flaglor. Flaglor, now 72, holds
"court" at the communications building at Wittman Regional Airport and has done
so at all the EAA conventions except two. Brent Blue now owns the first aircraft Ken
built, the Flaglor High Tow, known by many as the Flaglor Fleet. Brent talks with the
respected builder and you’ll enjoy his views on a variety of subjects.
 One of the hits of the daily Oshkosh airshows
is pilot Delmar Benjamin and his GeeBee R-2 racer. The stumpy little red and white bird,
that Benjamin calls "the snakiest taildragger ever built", gained a reputation
as a pilot-eater, totally unforgiving of overconfidence or mistake. Within their first 33
hours, the original R-2 and its higher horsepower brother, the R-1, crashed five times and
killed two pilots. Why then, would a seemingly sane man want to sell his soul to the SBA
to build and fly another one? AVweb’s Liz Swaine spent an Oshkosh afternoon with
Benjamin and found out some things about him and his little racer that will surprise and
astound you, GeeBee buff or not.
We saved some of the best for last. Our biggest
Photo Gallery yet. Over half a hundred images to close out our OSH '98
experience, along with our occasionally witty, sometimes half-baked, but never dull
captions.
AVweb OSH '98 Staff
We couldn’t have brought you our extraordinary daily coverage of EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 1998 without the hard work, sore feet, and sleep deprivation of the entire AVweb OSH ’98 staff.
| That's it for AVweb's OSH '98
coverage! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. See you all again next
year! |
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