The time finally came to get ready for this year's show at Oshkosh. I did the annual inspection on the plane and got it all ready to go. Our daughter decided she didn't want to go this year, so it was to be me, Nancy and our son, Sean. The plan was to fly to the Millin's in Kalamazoo, Michigan for a visit on Friday night, then see if GRT Avionics guru Carlos Fernandez could help us sort out some autopilot issues on Saturday before leaving for the show across the lake.
As a bonus, it turned out that Brett and Elizabeth Ferrell would also be staying over with the Millins before flying into the show.
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I got out of work early, pulled the plane out and had it fueled. Nancy is dropping off the dog and we are planning on being wheels up at 4:00 and arriving at Andy's at 7:00 as there is a front moving in.
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Nancy arrives exactly on time, we activate our flight plan and are at the departure end of the runway at 4:00. Here we go!
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Sean settles in for the trip in back.
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Here are some shots as we head Westbound across Pennsylvania.
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| Crossing the Susquehanna near Harrisburg |
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| Farm country in central Pennsylvania |
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| The ridges of the Appalachians |
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| Crossing the Appalachians into western Pennsylvania |
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| State College, PA with the football stadium in the center. |
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| Clear skies |
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As we approach Cleveland, Ohio, the clouds start to thicken into an overcast. This time we have ADS-B weather on the screens and feel much better about being able to dodge cells.
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| Skirting the shoreline in Cleveland |
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| Just beating the rain to 35D, Andy's airport |
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We fly between cloud layers into Michigan. It is beautiful and smooth between the layers and there are still holes in the bottom layer.
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Andy's airport comes into view right on time and we call our position as we turn into the pattern.
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Andy and Carlos are waiting for us on the ground.
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Andy even had an empty hangar for us to use overnight.
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Brett and Elizabeth landed less than 10 minutes later. This was to be the first time they would fly "Victor Fox" into the show.
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Brett and Elizabeth arrive, greeted by Carlos, and tuck their plane in for the night.
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Andy and Theresa graciously hosted all 5 of us for the night. We had a great time catching up. Thanks Millins!
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| Theresa brings in the best pizzas ever |
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| Elizabeth and Nancy |
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| The Riley family relaxes |
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| It's National Sundae day according to Theresa. Andy is unsure but plays along. |
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| Oops. Check your 12. |
The key to dessert was Theresa's signature brownies, which are heavy on the chocolate, delicious, and just plain heavy.
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| Nancy holds a Millin Mini Mutt |
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| Andy and his guard dog |
The next day is not good flying weather for the flight across Lake Michigan to Oshkosh. There are 2,500 foot ceilings, mist and haze. It is marginal VFR at best. We decide that over the lake is not an option. Instead, we will follow the shore of the lake past Gary, Indiana, Chicago then on north to Oshkosh.
We take off and decide that it is doable -just barely- and that we will be prepared to turn around any time it gets any worse.
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As we proceed, we keep in touch on an air to air frequency. Others listen in and ask us about the conditions. Someone 50 miles ahead tells us he just went through and that it gets no worse. Looks like we can make it so we press on.
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| View on takeoff headed West toward the lake |
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| View as we turn southbound along the shore |
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| We cut the corner over the lake to avoid Gary airspace. Should see something soon. |
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| First glimpse of western shore and Chicago |
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| There it is-Chicago. What a great view. |
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| Traffic going into O'Hare visible on right screen |
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Made it! Parked at Oshkosh again.
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A few minutes later the Ferrell's taxi in and park beside us.
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Riley N929X and Ferrell N44VF tied down together at Oshkosh. It was a long road to get here. We had dreamed of doing this for years. We looked around a bit. It was getting late so we lugged our stuff to the bus and caught a ride to the dorms at the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh.
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Sunday starts with dinner at the dorms, then a $1.50 bus ride to the show.
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| Off the bus, tower in sight, almost there..... |
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| Brett and I are wound up! |
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| EAA card at the ready |
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| Sean and I at the gate |
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| And we're in. I am officially a happy camper. |
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| We check in and get our showplane mugs. |
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| We go up in photo tower with mug and prop card. |
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| View North from tower. Still not crowded as show starts tomorrow. |
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| View South from tower |
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| Very competitive. |
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Nancy de-bugs the plane then relaxes under the wing with Sean.
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Brett and Elizabeth hang their first Oshkosh prop card on their plane. Congratulations on a great accomplishment guys!
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Larry Epstein and Dave Nelson arrived shortly after us and parked nearby.
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There were a lot of brief but powerful storms this show. One hit us Sunday morning. The Ferrells and I hung out under the planes. Sean played with the Ipad in the plane while Nancy caught a power nap.
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Here are some views from around the grounds on Sunday.
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| Watching landings on Runway 27 |
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| Reiff Lorenz and his dancing partner |
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Dinner with the Ferrells.
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After that, we walked across the street to our dorm rooms. They are spartan but functional. It is below a hotel room and above camping. You get sheets, blanket, pillow, towel, wash cloth, soap and room for $70 a night. There was a cafeteria across the street and a bus that took us directly to the show for $1.50 each. Very convenient. Most importantly, it was very cool this year. In hot years, the dorms can be pretty uncomfortable.
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| Brett and Elizabeth settle in and check weather |
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| Nancy is all done |
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| "I come bearing Plexus!' |
By Monday, the show opened and things were hopping. The weather was very cool and sunny.
Here are some shots from around the field.
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| Nancy and Sean in a field full of Mustangs |
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| Dueling "Eagle Ones" |
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| The Gang's all here. Watch out Oshkosh. |
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| I don't know what to say about this |
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| Gotta love Snoopy and Woodstock |
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| Rene Dugas and his Turbine Legend arrive |
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| DC3 |
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| Cirrus Jet |
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| Giant jet engine gokart |
During the day on Wednesday, a reporter from the local paper stopped by and interviewed us. Sean and I actually appeared in the Northwestern.
Andy and Theresa were delayed by weather and got in about 7:00. They got parked waaaaaay at the back of the show. I wandered up to get pictures.
The big news is that Andy won a Bronze Lindy award! Congratulations on the well deserved recognition!
After the show, Nancy and Elizabeth showed some leg to flag down a bus back to the dorms. After that we had dinner and headed across the street to our old standby, Kelly's Bar. Brett and I had been driving the wives crazy by speaking in Scottish accents all day, but we were really amusing each other.
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The Velocity Cookout is a tradition each year on Wednesday night at 10th and Elm in the Camp Scholler campground. This had to be a record year. It was cool and nice with over 100 in attendance. If you have any interest in Velocities, you should be there next year. Here are some shots from the cookout.
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The night airshow and fireworks were amazing.
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On Thursday morning, our plan was to get an early start for home. We prepped the plane, got our departure briefing and pulled up to the taxiway. Just then, a Breezy crashed next to the airport. The airport was shut down for several hours, followed by a period of gridlock on the taxiways as everyone tried to get out before an approaching thunderstorm and the 2:30 airshow. Here is a quick video of our taxi for departure.
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This is a video of our takeoff and flight over Lake Winnebago to the shore of Lake Michigan. I know I left the landing gear down for too long, but I was busy trying to get my airplane turned before 27 and avoiding a Cessna blundering around right in front of me, all while taking off in the pouring rain in a thunderstorm. Not ideal, but it got better from there.
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Here is a video of the takeoff shot by Brett Ferrell who was kind enough to stand in the driving rain to get the shot. Thanks Brett.
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We climbed over the weather and flew home nonstop at speeds well over 200 knots. We topped out at 265mph according to Flightaware. I was thrilled with the performance of the plane.
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| On top over Lake Michigan at 12,500 |
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| Only 38 degrees! |
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| 232 Knots! |
Sean naps in the back as we cruise in the smooth air. He was a great traveler.
We got new in-ear headsets. They are very comfortable but I'm not sure they compare with my Bose headset. I'll give them another flight or two to see if it's just me learning how to use them.
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We were above all the weather, which gave us a good chance to compare the ADS-B weather depiction on the right screen with what was outside. You can see the line of storms to our left and right.
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Crossing the ridges back into Eastern Pennsylvania.
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Things flatten out again after that. We do a cruise descent while still getting flight following from Harrisburg Approach. We cancel flight following as we pass Lancaster. We still have 22 gallons of fuel left for our final 15 minutes. This is the first non-stop flight from Oshkosh I've managed.
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| Chester County Airport comes into view. |
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| Glad to be home |
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| Tucked away in the hangar for next time |
Once again, we had a great time seeing the show, catching up with friends and, generally, having a great adventure. I will add more to the blog as I have time. I ended up with over 1,000 pictures.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the plane. I look forward to seeing everyone next year.
I know that this is a long post, but I wanted to give a feel for what it's like to fly your own plane in and spend a week at Oshkosh. This is better than Christmas for me and I've been going for 20 years now. I will sign off by adding a great video compilation of our Oshkosh departure this year by my friend Brett Ferrell, who stood in a thunderstorm in pouring rain to capture the footage and then edited it together with my in cabin GoPro footage to make the video below. It is really great--Thanks Brett.
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