This was finally the year I managed to take the family to Oshkosh in the Velocity. Katie and Sean are 14 and 11 now. I've been looking forward to doing this for a long time and was really anticipating it. Here is a brief account of how the trip went.
Since the plane was going to be on display at Oshkosh, I started with a thorough wash. It looks great!
My plans for a dawn departure on Monday were scrubbed when we woke up to find nothing but dense fog. By 9:00, conditions had come up to the bare minimums for VFR. However, things were forecast to get better to the West, so we launched. Here is a view a few minutes after our departure.
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We make it only an hour before we are forced to land due to a large thunderstorm in our path. We put down at Clarion County Airport. It is, well, remote. One of the line guys kindly offers me his pickup to go get some takeout food for the family. The storm passes over us as we eat, and we call weather brief. More stuff to dodge, but we decide to press ahead.
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We grab a late lunch and hang out in the FBO. They are extremely nice, helpful folks who lent us a van to drive for lunch. We leave at 4:30 figuring on more delay and hope to arrive at 6:00.
Of course, we get to Ripon way too early, so we land at Fond du Lac. There are probably a dozen other aircraft, from warbirds to spam cans to ultralights waiting on the ramp for the show to end. You can see the smoke from the air show performance from here. It is frustrating, but we are almost there.
No one really seems to know when the show will end. Then, at 6:15, we get word that the airport will open at 6:30. Everyone runs to their planes and starts up like a fighter squadron scrambling. We get to Fiske first and start talking to the controllers.
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It is 6:30 as we start the approach and conditions are gorgeous. The sun is low in the sky and the air is smooth. It is strange for me as I have always arrived to the show before noon.
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There it is. We get clearance to start the approach for Runway 27. You can see Lake Winnebago in the background. We will go up the left side of the show almost to the lake then turn right to come back toward 27 for landing.
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This is a quick video of us following the railroad tracks up the Fisk approach.
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Here is a longer video of the approach and landing on Runway 27. I had to extend for a Bonanza that botched his approach ahead of me, then do a really steep base to final turn to get back on the approach. I still managed to put it exactly on the middle of the orange dot.
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Success! On the ground at Oshkosh! We taxi toward homebuilt parking.
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We make it to our spot and get ready to tie down.
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Nancy calls home to let everyone know we've arrived safely. The kids get a long drink. It was very hot during the flight, with ground temperatures near or above 100 degrees and temperatures at altitude remaining in the upper 80's. Soaring temperatures end up being the signature feature of this year's show.
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We walk into the show and I pick up my 4th Airventure mug given to pilots who fly their homebuilts to the show.
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We walk over to row 377 to see our friends Andy and Theresa Millin. Andy finally finished his plane this year and is getting lots of interested visitors and compliments. Good job Andy!
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On to Aeroshell Square. We toured the C17 in the background and checked out the fighters.
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After the show, we caught the shuttle bus to our rooms at University of Wisconsin -Oshkosh. I have done this for years. It is spartan, but very convenient. The one huge problem is that the vast majority of the dorms are not air conditioned. It was near 100 degrees every day this year and trying to sleep was torturous. This is our last year in the dorms.
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The best way to beat, or at least postpone, the heat in your dorm room is to walk across the street to Kelly's bar for cold beverages. It is a lively outdoor spot with popcorn and un-shelled peanuts for the kids. This was actually one of their highlights of the whole trip and we stopped over several times.
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We start day two by checking out the new VTwin by Velocity. They are not in their usual spot, but have it in a space right near the main entrance. It was getting a lot of attention. I can't believe I didn't get a better picture. Check it out on their web site at www.velocityaircraft.com.
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From there, we head over to the Velocity to dry out the cover and get the water and bugs off the plane. Katie and Sean relax in the sun.
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Next, we head down to the flight line to watch the aircraft coming and going.
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James Redmond has finally painted his Race 13 Berkut. I was always partial to the black on white "Race 13 Takes No Prisoners" and Skull and Crossbones motif, but this color scheme is tremendous.
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The kids really liked Duggy, the smile in the sky DC-3.
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The exhibit buildings were less crowded this year. Sean loved the Honda tent with the Honda Jet, motorcycles and a demo by Honda's robot, Asimo.
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We hung out in the shade under the plane for a while. Lots of friends dropped by to see the plane, talk and hang out. This is always a good time.
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| Linda takes some shots of the cookout |
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| Andy and Jerry man the grills |
Wednesday night is always the Velocity Cookout at 10th and Elm in the campground. As always, this was well attended. It was also very, very hot. The kids were wiped out and we took them back to the dorms for showers and sodas at Kelly's.
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On Thursday, we drove to the Wisconsin Dells with our Lancair friends, the Keighans. We went to Noah's Ark, the largest water park in the country. It was huge, cooling, and lots of fun.
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Nancy and I pulled the plane all the way up this walkway to the taxiway. I'm tired already!
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Loaded up, fueled, preflighted and ready to go. We are sorry to leave the show, but looking forward to the comforts of home.
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On the main taxiway to 36 for departure. The show is on the right.
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There were well over 100 Piper cubs there this year. It was a sea of yellow cubs.
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Near the departure end we wait for 8 T6 Texans to run up and depart as a flight. When they pointed back down the taxiway we had to close our doors to avoid having them blown off by the prop wash from all those thousands of horsepower.
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We wait for the last two warbirds to depart, then hear "Canard type, you are cleared for takeoff."
Here goes!
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The ceiling is very low. This is the view from 500 feet above ground as we head south.
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The clouds open up a bit and we climb through to proceed on top. We head south to circle around Chicago and then turn East.
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As we pass Chicago, the weather starts to get worse, with buildups and showers.
Dodging around a heavy rain shower.
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We contact Flightwatch and are reassured that things will clear over eastern Illinois and most of Indiana. Sure enough, we are soon in the clear.
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We stop in Sandusky, Ohio for fuel and a weather check. This is truly in the middle of nowhere, but a great airport with a really nice FBO, helpful staff and a long runway for hot days like today.
Weather brief gives us more gloom and doom for the way ahead, but also a route between two large convective cells. We will deviate to Beaver Falls, then State College, PA, then home. We have made great time so far with ground speeds of 200 knots or better. If all goes well, we will be home in 90 minutes.
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After weather, bathroom and fuel, we are ready to depart Sandusky. The conditions here are still fine.
We'll see what lies to the East.
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As we proceed East, the cloud tops begin to get higher and higher and the gaps begin to close up. I descend through the clouds to continue, not wanting to get trapped on top of a solid cloud deck. Unfortunately, conditions under there are hot, humid and turbulent. My son starts complaining about his stomach. Just as we pass Toledo, there are some breaks in the clouds and the tops look somewhat lower. I decide to try going on top again.
We climb to 9,500 and are just clear of the tops, picking our way between the tallest ones, but able to stay on course. The air is smooth and only 55 degrees up here. We decide to stay up here if possible.
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We make great time with ground speeds of 200 knots. As we get to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from home, we cancel flight following and begin a cruise descent.
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Short final for 29 Chester County.
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Made it! We taxi back to the hangar. I'm a happy camper.
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I think the kids are even happier. They were great travelers. Neither one complained and it was a long trip.
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Back at the hangar, I unload the plane while Nancy loads up the car. We carried all of this stuff, 4 people and full fuel at 200 knots from Oshkosh to Philadelphia in 4.5 hours including a stop. I just love the Velocity.
It was a great trip. We had to explain that this was the hottest it's ever been there and that it is usually much more comfortable. They both said they want to go again next year. I'm not sure if it's for the air show, or the peanuts and popcorn at Kelly's, but don't really care. It was nice having the whole family share the Oshkosh experience for the first time. They finally comprehend the scale of the thing and were always remarking about how nice everyone was.
All in all, I'll consider this trip a success.
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