Leaving EAA AirVenture ’98

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 anotherMustang."

At that point you realize it is OK to go home.

When the extraordinary in aviation becomes normal, you have been at Oshkosh longenough. It doesn't mean you have to leave, but it means you have seen and absorbed enoughof what fascinates you so that you can leave without too many regrets or too many thoughtsof, "Oh, I wish I had looked at or gone to that..."

So, you re-read the departure portion of the NOTAM, pack up the tent and the stuff youbought, and all the literature you were handed, and all the goodies you bought, stuff itin the airplane, secure the cargo net over the pile, pull the airplane forward and turn itto face down the alley, and finally, fire up.

There is one more bit of adventure to be had, because the departure from EAA Oshkosh isunlike most any you ever make. You taxi, after listening to the ATIS, and without making aradio call, toward the active runway, following the signals of the men and women withorange paddles. You get a bit of a thrill when the marshallers hold a P-51 for you, thenyou get in line behind assorted production aircraft from the last fifty five years, aSpitfire and a new Cessna 172. Somehow, in the stream of arrivals, a voice comes over theradio summoning four airplanes, two from each side of the runway to take positions on theleft and right sides of the runway, two and two. Then, one is cleared for takeoff on theright side. As it accelerates, one on the left side is cleared to go, followed shortly byone on the right and the last on the left. In another few moments an airplane lands. Thenthere is a space to shoehorn in four more departures.

Finally it is your turn. You are cleared into position on the left side of the runway.A 172 launches off the right side, only a few seconds ahead of you. Then you are clearedto go. Power up, a quick check of the engine instruments, keep it tracking straight,airspeed coming up, rotate a little and fly off, keeping it low. The 172 ahead is climbingsteadily, you are overtaking him, so stay low, no need to climb much, the max altitude isonly 1300 msl because of the inbounds you must cross under at 1800 msl. The 172 slides tothe rear above you and now you are coming up on a Warrior and the end of the runway. Starta gentle turn to start in the direction of home, keeping in mind the heading restrictionson the departure routing until you are clear of the Class D airspace. Ease it up to 1250making no sudden moves. Zip. A Lancair blows by you. Whew, that's why you make no suddenmoves.

OK, outside the five mile radius, so start to climb, but keep a sharp eye out for thosehigh speed machines which are probably out here. Turn on course, climb to altitude and,when about thirty miles out, turn the transponder on. Yep, ATIS said they wanted it lefton standby until that far from the airport.

Now there is time to think. Whatwas this Oshkosh like? Why did you go? Will you go back? You spent more money than youintended, (don't we all) got sunburned, schlepped a long way to the showers each morning(but went early enough to get warm water), stood with your mouth open as the Twin Beechsmoothly looped and rolled and as Patty Wagstaff made an airplane do things you could noteven name, and put up with massive crowds.

So, you think about what you saw. About the flight line operations folks who did such asmooth job, and despite what you were told, set up a system to fill holes as airplanesleft that worked. For the first time you could remember, it was possible to fly in onFriday or Saturday and not only get in, but get a good parking space.

Moving the opening day to Wednesday seems to have worked. The airport did fill up onWednesday, but only temporarily. It opened back up shortly afterward as the early arrivalsstreamed out Wednesday after the airshow.

You saw incredible new homebuilts and new add-ons to existing ones which boggled themind. You marveled at the quality of the workmanship on so many of the homebuilts andwondered how in the world the judges could possibly decide which ones were the best. Theyall looked perfect. The warbirds again impressed you with their power and grace. Again,you felt that there was no tougher looking airplane on the planet than a Corsair rollingout with the flaps extended while the most gracefully deadly warplane ever built had to bethe Spitfire. And you smile to yourself at the egos of some of the warbird pilots as theyswagger around and sweat in their long-sleeved flight suits while the senior ConfederateAir Force pilots put on civilian, short-sleeved shirts after flying, because they don'tneed to show off.

You think of the incredible work done by the volunteers, few of whom receive anyrecognition, and without whose efforts airVenture would not be possible. Of the FAA folkswho are at OSH to help out at the FAA's large building, gently pushing safety to everincreasing crowds. Of the FSS briefers who handle the crush at OSH when they could be attheir home shop dealing with a normal pace. And, you say a silent "thank you" toall of them.

You wonder about the pilots who haven't gotten the briefing and taxi around on grasswithout pulling the wheel back and of the funny conversation you had with a friend aboutthe matter. The two of you came to the conclusion that the chumps who didn't pull thewheel back to keep the prop away from the ground were renters, those who did have thewheel back were owners.

As you fly, you realize that this year there was noshow-stopping event as there has been in the past. When the Concorde first came to OSH itwas incredible and told the world that EAA Oshkosh had arrived. Now it is almost taken forgranted, because the EAA AirVenture is so big and impressive, that sort of thing isexpected. In a way the show has become a victim of its own success. How does it do anencore to the incredible? It cannot have the SR-71 and the B-2 for the first time morethan once. It cannot have the world's largest formation of World War II aircraft everyyear.

It is a little like Alaska, it is incredibly big and awe-inspiring, but everyoneexpects big and awe-inspiring, so the EAA does not get the credit it deserves for themassive show it stages. The EAA's successes in the past have raised people's expectationsso high, that unless there is a moon launch during the convention, some people will bedisappointed.

Little things stick in your mind. Of the copilot of the Concorde hanging out his windowas the airplane was being towed to parking. He was taking pictures of the massive crowdtaking pictures of him. He then pulled out a china cup and saucer and had a bit of tea.Where else can you see that sort of thing?

Where else outside of Alaska can you see dozens of seaplanes together, on a shelteredinlet, and watch them arrive and depart with some frequency?

Where else could you see a MiG 15 in formation with an F-86, passing over a homebuiltwhich was only five minutes slower than a Hawker Sea Fury in a race from eastern NorthCarolina to OSH? And, where else will both such a revival of the long-distancefree-for-all racing and vintage fighters from opposite sides of a war be something thatyou expect to see? That does not make you jaded, that just makes EAA AirVenture soincredibly good that visitors can legitimately have such a level of expectation and canhave those expectations satisfied. The most devoted cynic leaves EAA Oshkosh muttering andupset because he cannot find enough about which to complain.

Where else can you go to forums on homebuilding techniques which are taught by the verybest of the very best in that area? The Port-O-Lets were always clean. How in the world dothey do it? It is a mark of a well-run organization that such details are attended toeffectively.

You think about the new locations for so much that you have gotten used to beingelsewhere. Everything has moved south, making the center of gravity farther from airplanecamping, to the regret of your feet. It means the Fly Market is bigger, but you discoveredthere were no real bargains there this year and the books were horribly over-pricedcompared to what you could get on the Internet. But, it also meant the forum tents werenot constantly surrounded by noise, making the forums more valuable because you couldhear.

It showed that the EAA has gotten the word that aviation has to be marketed to thegeneral public, because they are the future. If it cannot be sold to those who are notflying now, it will die. That means more glitz and show biz in the presentations, but,that is marketing, you sadly realize. It means that pilots who fly in are the minority atthe convention. While they require a tremendous amount of the volunteer effort to dealwith their airplanes, the majority of visitors arrive by car and the center of theAirVenture is now more convenient to them. While emotionally a little difficult to accept,it is necessary. For we have to get those who are currently driving to become a part ofthe group who are flying.

The EAA is going about it in the correct fashion by marketing tothat group effectively. You just hope that the EAA will never get to the lowest commondenominator in its marketing, the silly jet truck is bad enough. The rumor of ferriswheels on the west ramp was pretty bad. What was worse was that you initially believed itcould be true.

Musing, you try and think of bad parts of the experience. In the past there were alwaysseveral. This year was simply different, there were so very few truly bad experiences. Theweather was as nearly perfect as can be imagined; the showers didn't flood while you werein them; only one pilot was enough of a jerk to taxi at half throttle,ride the brakes and make a turn so as to blow the food off the plates at your campsite.You did see some litter on the ground and you picked it up. Seeing some litter at all wasa unusual. Seeing people who were there with the job of picking up litter was a first foryou. Sad.

There were a couple of folks who felt it was so important they depart early that theyignored the 6:00 am airport opening restriction and woke up hundreds of people. Thanks,fellows. Hope some of the people I spoke with never find out who you are.

The parking people were incredibly polite this year, more so than any time in the past.The only sour note seemed to be the Civil Air Patrol. Why did the senior member captainyell at the two guys who crossed the flight line rather than walk over and act civilly tothem? And, why did that more senior officer act so rudely to those campers when hefollowed up on the incident with the captain, so much so that an EAA official came andapologized for the CAP officers' behavior? Why did those two cadets strut through thevehicle only area and challenge the police officer to drop the rope across the road? Whyin the world did those four cadets walk shoulder to shoulder south on Knapp Road Saturdaymorning and force people to jump out of their way? CAP is such a good organization, itrecently was given recognition for absolutely outstanding work in spotting wild fires inTexas, why are some minority of its members doing things to sully its name in the midst ofthe biggest aviation event in the world?

There were so few bad experiences. There wasn't a closure of the airport ahead of thepublished time, stranding departing airplanes, there was no controller slowdown for IFRdepartures, people were so very friendly to each other. Most people in authority seemed tobend over backwards to be accommodating. It was a good year for EAA AirVenture.

What was so very important,though, was seeing friends again and meeting new friends who have the same dedication toaviation. Yes, you met old friends at the arch east of the control tower as you always do.You spent time watching the airshows under the wing of an airplane, with a cold one inhand, out of range of the announcers. Despite flying aerobatics over the years, you stillare amazed by the airshow display and you enjoyed discussing it with friends. You learneda lot about airplanes and operations and repair in the many interesting conversations youhad. You talked airplanes with perfect strangers, because each of you were excited aboutthem. What a place.

Will you go back next year? To the heat and noise and crowds? After all, the idealcampsite is supposed to be next to a babbling brook, in the trees, surrounded by silence.Yours had none of the above except when the water jug on the wing tip started leaking, andthe noise required fingers in the ears at times. Would you have traded it for the brookand silence? Nor would I.

This was probably the best organized EAA Oshkosh event ever. If the budget allows nextyear, you'll be back and you will arrange to meet up with even more friends, for, as itall works out, the airplanes are wonderful, but it is the people who make it why we justkeep going back year after year.

See you in 1999!