Actually, throw another 254 brats on the barbie. AirVenture Oshkosh 1998 was officially opened this afternoonwhen an Air New Zealand 747-400 landed at Wittman Field at 1341.The flight was carrying 254 passengers from six countries whogathered in Sydney, Australia, stopped in Los Angeles, and thencontinued on to Oshkosh-Nineteen hours flying time. Gee, somepeople will go to incredible lengths to avoid the Ripon arrival.
The tour is organized by Dave Thomas, proud long-timeEAA member from down under. He gets help from Marya Phillips,who has as much energy and
personality as you can cram into four feet eleveninches. This is the fifth trip of its kind and they must be doingsomething right because the passengers applauded them after deplaningat OSH. After 19 hours on an airplane, that’s no small feat.
Dave organized the first group tour in 1981 afterhe attended his firstOshkosh airshow the year before. He filled the seatsof a Quantas 747-100 with a group of 265 aviation enthusiastsand 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 mostof the group finished the trip by bus, the pilots of the 12 homebuiltsreassembled 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 firstsin AirVenture history that still stand. It was the longest charterflight to arrive at Oshkosh. It was the largest group of peopleto arrive in a single airplane. It was the most pilots to arrivein a single airplane. And, it was the first widebody airplaneto land at (what’s now called )Wittman field. The next trip, in1992, brought a full load of 396. The next trip, in 1995, broughtanother full load of 396 and was the first landing at OSH of a747-400 series. Australian carrier Quantas hauled the first fourtrips. This year is the first time that Air New Zealand is thecarrier. Judging by the smiles from the happy passengers, it’snow ANZ’s job to lose. The group will spend a few days at Oshkoshas a group, then split up. Some will return home, others willcontinue their vacations (or holidays, as they call them) andsee 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 ofthe trip from 1995. He’s hoping that situation will change beforethe next trip planned for 2001. He wishes he could generate enoughinterest to bring a group every year, but the numbers just don’tadd up. Nonetheless, he throws down the gauntlet to other countriesto fill a 747 with passengers bound for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.Just once. So far, Australia is the only country that’s been ableto do it.
Australians are known for their hospitality, butthey may have met their match in Oshkosh. Mayor Melanie Bloechlturned out to welcome this group, as did the founder of EAA, PaulPoberezny. Air New Zealand presented Paul with a desktop modelof 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 fromworlds apart can share their love of flying. 254 people from Australia areabout to find that out. Welcome to Oshkosh. No worries, mate.
