Many thanks to Dan Pimentel, editor of Airplanista Magazine for including one of my Oshkosh shots in the August issue. He chose one of my shots of the Red Bull helicopter flown by Chuck Aaron in its amazing performance.
It was a pleasure meeting Dan and we had a great time at a couple of Tweetups.
It’s been four days since I got home from Oshkosh and the smile is still glued firmly to my face. Everything they say about experiencing AirVenture is true. Why else would I be making plans for 2012?
541,000 people made the trip to the sleepy little city of Oshkosh. A t-shirt for sale said it best: “Oshkosh a quiet little drinking town with a flying problem”. How they handle that many people tells you a lot about the people who come. Friendly, patient, accommodating crowds sharing a common passion – flight.
From precision jets to the world’s only flying B-29 bomber to a homebuilt single seater, Oshkosh is where the airplanes are. If it flies, it’s been to Oshkosh.
Why else would Boeing fly the 787 Dreamliner in for a day? Tens of thousands of enthusiasts stood in line for hours in sweltering heat to tour the aircraft. No one complains.
Legendary designer Burt Rutan is there and his aircraft arrive in droves including the iconic Boomerang and Beechcraft Starship.
At Oshkosh, he’s just another EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) member. Like “Sully” Sullenberger, Captain of US Airways Flight 1549 – The Miracle On The Hudson” who attended a number of events and was more than willing to talk for a minute or pose for the fans’ photos.
I’ll be posting photos for months but I’ll leave you with this one. The world’s largest airship. And I got to go for a flight.
How long to Oshkosh 2012?
Closest airshow this weekend is in Battle Creek Michigan and there’s no way that I was going to fight border traffic on the July 1st and July 4th weekend (what a perfect storm this is). Catching up with chores around the house and just enjoying three days off.
Next weekend is Geneseo put on by the fine folks of the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum in Geneseo New York. This is a smaller show with plenty of vintage aircraft. Due to the distance, I’m staying overnight Saturday in Rochester and coming back early on the Sunday morning.
Great Lakes International Air Show in St. Thomas Ontario this weekend. About a 2 1/2 hour drive with fingers crossed that the weather improves greatly.
Looks like a good show planned.
The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton is holding their 2 day Air Show. I spent the day there yesterday and it was a pleasure to be able to enjoy the sight of all those wonderful classic aircraft. It’s always great to get a chance to see their Avro Lancaster MK.X flying (one of only 2 flying airframes in the world). Vintage Wings of Canada was well represented as well.
CWHM hasn’t had a full air show in 10 years and it was easy to see that they had a few problems, mainly with crowd handling, but all-in-all they put on a wonderful show.
Now that Wings & Wheels is just a painful memory it’s time to start looking forward to going to attending aviation events without having to work my ass off.
First on the list is the ESL International Air Show in Rochester New York on July 16. This will be a good practice run for Oshkosh as I’m way, way rusty with my cameras. Other than iPhone pix, I haven’t picked up the Nikon’s since I went to Dayton. The hotel is booked and I’m waiting to get my ticket when they go on sale in mid June.
One of my goals in Dayton was to see the iconic Blackbird.
The Lockheed SR-71A holds all the records for high and fast flight. 85,068.997 feet and 2,193.167 MPH. It flew for 24 years providing unparalleled reconnaissance capabilities. From 80,000 feet, the Blackbird could survey 100,000 miles of the Earth’s surface per hour.
The USAF Museum’s SR-71 was the first to fly an operational sortie and was retired in March 1990.
Each Pratt & Whitney J58 engine produced 32,500 lbs thrust on afterburner.
It’s doubtful that a manned reconnaissance aircraft like the Blackbird will ever be built again. Satellites and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have taken the SR-71’s place.
Spent an absolutely fantastic weekend playing aviation geek down in Dayton Ohio at the USAF museum.
I’m just starting to go through the hundreds and hundreds of pictures I took over the course of a day and a half. Lots of them are going to show up here and on Flickr over the next few months. Might even get me through to Oshkosh in July.
Let’s start with the strangest of the bunch. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the XF-85 Goblin.
“The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was designed to meet a USAAF requirement for a single-seat "parasite" escort fighter that could be carried by a large bomber. Development of two prototypes was ordered in March 1947. The resulting design was entirely the product of design constraints, which required it to fit into the bomb bay of a B-36 (although it was first tested under a B-29). The B-36 was the intended mother ship that would carry as many as three Goblins.
A tiny, short fuselage was fitted with low/mid-set foldable swept wings, of 21 ft 1.5 in (6.44 m) span. It was powered by a 3,000 lb (1,400 kgf) Westinghouse J34-WE-7 turbojet. There was no landing gear except for emergency skids. The fighter was intended to return to the parent aircraft and dock with a trapeze, by means of a retracting hook.” (From Wikipedia)
Looking like somebody’s idea of a joke, the Goblin actually flew quite well when away from the turbulence of the mother ship.
Only 2 were built and 46-6523 was transferred to the museum soon after the program’s cancellation in 1950.
We’re not even through January and I’m getting ready for my 5th flight of the year. The first 4 were for business – Buffalo to Charlotte and then on to Memphis and return. This one is for fun!!
The National Museum of the US Air Force is located on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and houses an incredible collection of aircraft. I’m so stoked to get a chance to spend 2 days touring the displays.
So, Friday night it’s off to Cincinnati and then a drive up to Dayton. Back home Sunday night with a couple of thousand photos and as many memories.
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