A Special Year for Bonanzas to Oshkosh
The annual Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2Osh) trek on Saturday took on special meaning this year, which sees both the 60th anniversary of the Beechcraft Bonanza and the 75th anniversary of Beechcraft. This year’s B2Osh flight to aviation mecca (EAA AirVenture) included 110 airplanes — 102 Bonanzas and eight twin-engine Barons. However, the stars of the show were the old and new Bonanzas — a newly renovated 1947 Model 35 (S/N D-18) owned by the Beechcraft Heritage Museum and the 60th anniversary G1000-equipped G36 piloted by Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO James Schuster. The group of airplanes took off about noon on Saturday from the Rockford (Ill.) Airport and landed in Oshkosh, Wis., at approximately 1:20 p.m. It took less than eight minutes for the group to leave Rockford, and an equal amount of time to land at Oshkosh. However, the mass landing in Oshkosh was missing N313W, a 1981 V-tail Bonanza, that suffered an engine failure shortly after leaving Rockford.
The annual Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2Osh) trek on Saturday took on special meaning this year, which sees both the 60th anniversary of the Beechcraft Bonanza and the 75th anniversary of Beechcraft. This year's B2Osh flight to aviation mecca (EAA AirVenture) included 110 airplanes -- 102 Bonanzas and eight twin-engine Barons. However, the stars of the show were the old and new Bonanzas -- a newly renovated 1947 Model 35 (S/N D-18) owned by the Beechcraft Heritage Museum and the 60th anniversary G1000-equipped G36 piloted by Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO James Schuster. The group of airplanes took off about noon on Saturday from the Rockford (Ill.) Airport and landed in Oshkosh, Wis., at approximately 1:20 p.m. It took less than eight minutes for the group to leave Rockford, and an equal amount of time to land at Oshkosh. However, the mass landing in Oshkosh was missing N313W, a 1981 V-tail Bonanza, that suffered an engine failure shortly after leaving Rockford.
Pilot Kelly McBride left the formation about seven miles out from the departure point, radioed a Mayday call and landed in a cornfield just outside of Rockford. The B2Osh group was relieved when minutes later Rockland tower radioed that McBride was standing on his wing and waving at a search and rescue helicopter; at press time it was unknown if he later made it to the AirVenture show grounds sans airplane.
