Oshkosh 2010

[aeromedia]

Hi from Oshkosh, or as it has been dubbed this year with all the rain before the event, "Sploshkosh."
Art Nalls SHAR flew a very good display this final (Sunday afternoon) and great to see a familiar sight in Jerry Yagens Rapide here. It won a Silver Wrench for Wal and the teams work. Nice.
The expected number of C47/DC3's failed to materialise, although who can sneeze at 21 C47's in a formation??? In all nearer 30 of the type here. Highlights included a beautiful new Seafire restoration that only flew weeks before the event,, plus all the usual warbird highlight, 2 Sea Furys, Douglas Skyraider, Corsairs, P40's (only two tho), Multiple Mustangs, Invader, B17's (x 4) DC7b, C54 T33's, A4's, F4, etc etc etc.
Another life box ticked !

[ZacYates]

Congrats Pete! I've longed to visit Oshkosh, hoping to convince my girlfriend that we should save for Oshkosh and then the wedding....or perhaps, as happened at the show this year, wedding AT Oshkosh!

Looking forward to seeing any shots you may have taken, as well as seeing what prizes you return with!

Were there any unlimited racers present?

[flyinkiwi]

Did you see Jack Roush pancake his Beechcraft Premier? Thankfully both he and his pax walked away with minor injuries.

[Dave Homewood]

Oshkosh is America's annual gathering of airshow crashes, isn't it?

I'd like to go one day perhaps, but in reality I find the thronging crowds at Wanaka and Omaka too big, so perhaps I wouldn't really enjoy it.

[baz62]

Hope you took lots of Photos Peter! ;D

[John L]

What did you think of the newly finished FG1-D Corsair that won Best Warbird? From the photo's, it looked superb.

[aeromedia]

That's a fantastic shot of Jack Jacking his new aircraft in !!!! When we were waiting to leave on the final day, we hung out for a few hours in the Wittman Regional Airport terminal and got a superb view of everything with NO CROWD and air conditioning thrown in. Jacks broken jet was visible across the field dumped/reposing alongside a hangar. I will get some pics up when I get home in a few days. To those who find NZ airshows too overwhelming, you'd HATE Oshkosh. It is SUPERB, but its HOT and its HUGE and the food is terrible !!!!! I'm hugely pleased I've been but I won't be in a hurry to go back. Once enough for this kid ! Oshkosh as a town is a featureless, bland, steaming hot hell with no heart or soul.
BUT, if you want to see warbirds and any aircraft worth seeing, . . ones you'd never heard or dreamed of, they're ALL there. And the Chicago Concert was fantastic too. !!!!!

Air Racers, . . . not really, but the broken bones of Tsumani were there with a display to support its intended rebuild.

The B17 ride I had in Aluminium Overcast was just beyond brilliant. To sit up front in the glass nose on your own, looking back out either side at those beautiful radials drumming away, and with all the weaponry in place with rounds of ammo hanging out everywhere, . . it was like i owned the frickin thing. Just stunningly, breathtakingly AMAZING ! Worth every cent for sure.

[Dave Homewood]

Wow, a ride in a B-17 definately sounds like an amazing experience. I'm looking forward to the photos.

[bobgod]

Aug 2, 2010 11:27:36 GMT 12 flyinkiwi said:

Did you see Jack Roush pancake his Beechcraft Premier? Thankfully both he and his pax walked away with minor injuries.

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URL=http://onlinestuffs.com/][/URL]

I guess these days ,if you dont die its minor!--got this from the EAA site--[/quote]"Meanwhile Roush, 68, has undergone surgery at a local hospital and is now in the Mayo Clinic for more treatment and recovery. At last report his condition was listed as serious but stable. The status of his passenger, Brenda Strickland, 61, hasn't been discussed in detail but her injuries were initially thought to be less severe than Roush's."/quote]

[Dave Homewood]

Ouch. Not a nice way to start your airshow visit. I hope he is making a good recovery.

[timmo]

Was he displaying or just flying in?

[baz62]

Flying in.

[skyhawkdon]

Ouch! Must have been a really messy approach (a bit like the Devon at Ohakea a couple of years back!).

[flyjoe180]

Just plain nasty.

[hardyakka]

I was at Oshkosh this year (and I have a few photos to sort out). I didn't see Jack Roush's incident myself but one of our tour crew did. He is an experienced model and microlight pilot and his impression was that the jet was asked to follow slower traffic and make a late base-to-final turn. The jet got a bit slow, turned left at low altitude and just stalled/flicked right without room to recover. Listening to the ATC tapes seemed to support that.

Doesn't seem like there was any mechanical failure as per the Devon's asymmetric flap deployment at Ohakea back in 2006 although the result was quite similar. Anything that results in a hard landing is going to have significant resemblance I suppose.

I'm just glad that everyone got out, even if a bit banged up.

...and Dave, don't let the size of the event put you off. Get to Oshkosh if you can. It is Mecca for aviation people and well worth the hajj. Yes, it is a big show but also a big facility. If I needed space I just wandered down to the south end of the main runway and sat under the wing of a lone airplane and watched aircraft movements. You need not be in the throng if you don't want to be. The afternoon airshow itself only needs to be watched "in bits" as there are enough repeats of acts that you don't have to watch it all every day.

Here is a teaser...

The aircraft that started it all in terms of Fletcher, Cresco, PAC 750 etc...
The Fletcher Defender was parked on the stand of the Utility Aircraft Company (PAC750 agents in the USA). It was for sale US$25K.
It should be purchased and brought to NZ to sit in a museum as a forefather of modern ag-aircraft