| by |
Dave Higdon |
It's Not Just A Playground For Pilots Out There, Dad…
It was only Day One when the cherubic blonde child looked up at her mother
and entreated: "When are we going to the playground, Mommy?" As Dad
strode ahead quickly, Mom looked down at the child and her sibling and said
soothingly, "Not for a while, dear; Daddy is in his playground now."
But Mom may not have known that she could have acceded to her daughter's
plaintive pleadings at the children's activities tent in Camp Scholler, one of
the many alternatives to plane games at EAA AirVenture '99. Some of them are
devoid of airplane content, some are mere diversions from flying that still have
everything to do with planes.
For example, if gawking at all those gorgeous antiques, classics,
contemporaries, experimentals, ultralights and warbirds makes you ache for a
showplane of your own, you can start your project with a visit to the Fly
Market, where new and used plane parts aplenty are available to the savvy
shopper — as well as technical manuals, engineering drawings, original sales
brochures and magazine ads, nuts, bolts, cables, cloth for covering, elderly
avionics, antiquated instruments, pooped-out props, overage gauges, and
geriatric gyros ... whew.
...Shopping The OSH Superstore…
But, this was supposed to address alternatives to the aviation saturation of
Oshkosh, so, also available in the Fly Market are: sunglasses, umbrellas,
miracle mops, collectable memorabilia, novelty drink cups, posters and charcoal
drawings, magical crystals and flower-power stickers, flags and wind-catching
banners, squirt guns — which should have sold out in Friday's record heat and
humidity — funnels, hand tools, bumper stickers and stained-glass window
adornments, and assorted wind socks. Oops; there's that air-head stuff again.
Another diversion awaits outside the B exhibits hangar: a big, inviting pool
of cool blue water. Nope, this isn't the new EAA swimming pool, but a
promotional effort of the Bahamas tourism ministry, recruiting people to fly
their own little airplanes to the island chain just off the east Florida coast.
Remember that heat on Thursday and Friday we mentioned earlier? Ninety-plus
degrees, 90-plus humidity made the Bahamian pool among the most-popular
promotions on the grounds, as people sought relief by sampling the scuba and
snorkeling gear in the waist-deep water.
...Where The (alternative) Action Is...
Farther north, pilots' children and spouses gather at the Activities Center
to learn new craft skills, meet fellow flying widows — and escape Hubby's
flying-machine myopia at the same time. Each day these refugees from the flight
line sample knitting, crocheting, decorating, sewing, and learn about airplanes
and piloting in the Flying Companion Seminars.
Similar to the Activities Center is the Children's Activities tent in Camp
Scholler, where airshow orphans sample many of those traditional crafts projects
you probably learned in summer camp. An airy, open shelter sited under the cool
shade of sprawling trees gives the kids a place to be kids away from the hordes
of too-tall adults watching airplanes rather than where they step. Hey, for the
shortest humans, walking that flight line can be pretty intimidating!
If music can smooth your ruffled feathers, then the one-man-band performances
of perennial Oshkosh entertainer Jerry Sleger might prove the aural diversion
you need to replace the tune of Merlins running around in your head. With his
self-contained band-van parked near the Theater in the Woods, Sleger's running
afternoon performances blend harmonies with the spice of airplane humor that
stops hundreds each day to listen just a little while, before they move on to
the next item on the itinerary.
Now it may not sound like a lot, but if rationed properly with heavier doses
of aviation, the alternatives of Oshkosh can help keep even the most
aeronautically immune entertained long enough for Dad to finish playing on his
playground.
Email this article
