Oshkosh July 16-24 2015

 
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  Thinking of this solar panel combination. But it is quite small. Upgraded to this larger solar panel. Hopefully it will have enough power to keep things going. Chez Lewis greeted me (Bob) at my first stop. With a classic hotel bed-card too. I won't.

 
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  Cruising along in the C140. A little fast on the tach at the moment this photo was snapped. No constant speed prop so I am always adjusting the power up and down as the bumps bounce me up and down. Heading to Oshkosh in my C140! It is nice to have the extra room to spread out the charts. I have the back stuff full of my camping gear. Puffy clouds are starting to create a hard ceiling below me.

 
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  I am going to need to descend below soon. Sigh. Overnight in Platteville PVB looking at the ceiling for the last 12 hours. Sue and Brenda overnighted in C47, Portage WI. Parking at Platteville. Very friendly place! Good place to overnight. They have a courtesy car. But it stayed fogged in here for a couple hours past when C47 cleared out. So we didn't depart until ~10am Friday.

 
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  Arrived at Oshkosh! Jumped out and captured Sue and Brenda arriving. Sue and Brenda in N182H getting parked. Friday morning around 11am we got parked in row 66W after bad weather Wed/Thu/Fri am kept a lot of folks grounded. Sue and Brenda in N182H getting parked. Last year arriving Thu ~7pm we were in row 93. 66W is awesome! Pounding in the stakes for the tie-down Claw. Happy 50th birthday to N182H, a 1965 C182H

 
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  Look at the air driven generator on this Luscombe. Love this home built air driven generator. Lots of happy birthday balloons on the tie down ropes. Bob in his 2014 Oshkosh volunteer shirt.

 
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  The B52 stratofortress. This is Friday noonish before the crowds. Everyone is setting up their booths. The EAA build-wings center. Husky display, with landscaping prep.

 
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  I think this is the one that got nosed-over in Sat am's BIG storm :-( We heard winds hit 65 knot! When landscaping is complete Sunday, they'll all look like this. Bob and Brenda Life as it should be - display of tent camping with a Husky :-) Piper booth - lots of aircraft will arrive and fill up this whole area.

 
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  Registration / main entrance - still quiet on Friday. Icon A5 amphib B52 on Friday eve as the shadows lengthen. Tons of other cool warbirds.

 
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  CAF's C47 restoration project. Reflection in the nose of a Lockheed, NC26333 Showplane camping (rows ~63-68) still has lots of space. Vintage Flight Ops. Very fun to volunteer here!

 
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  Our neighbors ordered pizza delivered to the gate. Papa Johns and Dominos deliver! Saturday morning after the BIG storm at 5am, tent upside down to let the bottom dry, and everything else spread out to dry on Redbird'd tail and struts. One of several DC3's that arrived Saturday. Bonanza mass arrival Saturday. Oshkosh 2015, world's busiest airport.

 
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  I can't tell a Velocity from Cozy but they're all gorgeous. Jets arriving Saturday. Ercoupe mass arrival. Grass in the tailwheel... life as it should be.

 
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  N6180 Sue parking aircraft in the South 40 Sunday noonish. We're already down to row 124ish. N2275D in the South 40.

 
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  Jennifer and Ricky confer on parking details. Scooters galore doing parking. On the right beyond the little tower is the south end of runway 36L. New folks arrive to work parking, so Bob and Sue head out for a lunch break. After lunch, we head down for more fun parking in the south 40.

 
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  Sandy directs planes in. We're at row 134 now, late-afternoon Sunday 19th. Shadows are getting long... Last plane lands 8pm (field is closed 8pm - 6am) and taxies in, getting close to sunset. Monday - mass arrival of Howards!

 
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  Lots of gorgeous Howards.

 
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  Tonka truck - love their logo! Awesome kids play area with Tonka trucks! Rows of RV's.

 
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  More RV's. And more RV's. Beechcraft Proficiency Training panel of extremely knowledgeable instructors. Lots of familiar faces!

 
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  Quickie Monday's airshow.

 
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  Airbus 350 extra-wide-body arrives, OMG huge and quiet and graceful. Airbus taxies in. Tiny Hummingbird next to the RV's.

 
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  Tech up fixing a network connection. This is what I do now. More airshow going on. B29 "Fifi" on left, B52 on right

 
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  B29, B52, rare Avro Lancaster on right. Avro Lancaster from Canada.

 
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  B52 doesn't sit much taller than Fifi. Chinese delivery! Yummy chinese from Jade Dragon. Thanks Ross for discovering they deliver!!!! They deliver to Oshkosh gates!

 
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  Piping hot, lots of veggies, yumm!! This is their "small" plate, plenty of food. Mike and Joanie (gorgeous Citrabria) enjoy the Chinese food too. Give them the street address or Oshkosh gate#, and they show up with food.

 
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  Remembering the address for next year :-) Monday evening in Vintage parking/camping. Sunset Monday July 20, 2015 at AirVenture.

 
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  Tuesday morning. Redbird is still east of Twin Comanche, east of Citabria, east of 82H. That'll change when Joanie & Mike leave (bummer!) N89297 at Oshkosh 2015 Twin Comanche has no struts, but TWO props for hanging wet towels out to dry :-)

 
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  Cindy hanging out in the shade of the Citabria. N182H at Oshkosh 2015, Happy Birthday balloons are all deflated now after Saturday morning storm and a couple days in the sun. SeaBee taxies out. N64PN After Citabria departs, we move Redbird next to 82H.

 
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  N89297 in its second parking location at Oshkosh 2015. Still row 66W. Row 66W is an awesome location! Sue and Brenda next to N182H

 
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  Sue and N182H at Oshkosh 2015. Happy 50th Birthday N182H. Scott brought us more inflated Happy Birthday balloons. Thanks Scott!! Brenda on far left taking photos :-)

 
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  Goodyear Blimp over the vintage area Tuesday evening. Blimp from underneath 82H's wing. Brenda, Ross, Cindy Tuesday eve after the airshow, a rare Call-Air arrives to fill the empty spot in our row.

 
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  Pre-cursor to the Pawnee, only 17 Call-Airs were built. Wed morning the Call-Air is set up for show. We love the "Please Touch" sign. Built in Afton, WY. Interior of Call-Air.

 
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  Wednesday morning from the Nikon platform. Very few open spaces now! Row straight out from the red truck is our row. Looking south, Vintage is not full but parking goes a long way south. Row on the right, far far end, is 82H's tail. Taken from the shower truck. Camping in the trees - a perk for the serious volunteers who put in 12+ hours a day every day. The shower trucks. Last year one truck per gender, this year individual stalls. Needs more ventilation but pretty cushy!

 
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  Rows and rows of jaw-dropping gorgeous planes. In front of Vintage center, a Wright Flyer replica. F-22 Raptors in front of the Airbus 350. Beech Starship 2000A N514RS at Oshkosh 2015.

 
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  A line is forming to tour the inside of the Airbus. Raptors in front of the B52. Line for the Airbus is now very long. Bob is working aircraft parking at Point Fondy again, Wednesday morning. Lots of depatures to be marshalled.

 
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  Lining up to depart 36L.

 
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  The Quickie that we saw earlier at show center. Jets lining up to depart behind a pretty red Ercoupe. Little biplane, big jet, everyone lines up for departure. Lots of pretty bonanzas. Amphibs of any year can park in Vintage.

 
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  N2711C about to engine start for departure. N2473C While Bob directs planes for departure, Sue and Brenda are at the Womens Power Lunch at Theatre in the Woods. Ultralights departing.

 
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  Meanwhile Sue is awed at Vernice Armour, a wonderful inspirational speaker. The first female african-american combat fighter pilot, she flew helicopters. Her speech was SOOO good that Sue and Brenda both went over to her book signing and bought a copy!

 
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  She changed from flight suit to civvies as part of her illustration of how our lives change. Wed airshow, Airbus 350 departing. So graceful in turns! Bob is still on flight line duty. Everyone in the crowd with eyes and cameras skyward.

 
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  Selfie on flight line. Fed Ex jet arrives for static display at show center after the Airbus departs. Smoke rising from the awesome pyrotechnics during the airshow, simulating bomb drops from the WWII bombers flying.

 
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  F22 heads out for another airshow demo flight. Everyone watching the WWII bombers and fighters during the airshow.

 
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  Japanese Zero Great view from the wing of a DC3

 
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  Aerobatic Bonanza wow F22 in formation with a P38 and a P51 Passing overhead F22 with Bob's camera

 
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  F22 with Sue's camera Wed eve, Theatre in the Woods, Apollo 13 astronauts and controllers remember the mission. Blimp flies over the Apollo 13 stories. Sunset on the blimp Goodyear Blimp at Oshkosh 2015 showing the flag on its screen.

 
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  Halo from the sunset. Behind the trees, powered parachutes flying off the Ultralight strip. All during the Apollo 13 talk. Photo from Bob's tablet Thursday morning N89297 and N182H at Oshkosh 2015 Call-Air

 
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  F22's are still here Thursday along with a ton of WWII warbirds. TBM Avenger Corsair, P51, C47

 
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  P-40 Warhawk Japanese Zero B25's P38

 
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  F22 and P38

 
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  Most amazing part was that these warbirds in show center represented only a fraction of the planes up in Warbird Central - hundreds and hundreds more there!

 
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  Harrier Harrier in hover, converting jet fuel into noise. Harrier over the Vintage Flight Ops building. Friday morning, Cindy and Ross depart in their Twin Comanche. Pulled out and ready for engine start.

 
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  Exhausted but exhilarated after a week camping at Oshkosh! Bob, Sue, Brenda about to depart Oshkosh for home. Bob and Redbird.

 
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  Jer has arrived to take Redbird home. Brenda at Oshkosh! Flight line verifies we're clear to engine start.

 
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  Scooter leads us out. Leaving Redbird for Jer/ to fly home. Waving goodbye to the Call-Air. Awesome folks we camped next to, waving bye.

 
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  Crossing guards stop traffic as we taxi by. We worked that volunteer position last year! taxiing out past Flight Ops to Classic Point. Looking back towards parking. Following the conga line for departure. Taxiing north past show center.

 
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  Past the airshow planes Approaching controllers on left. Fort Tri-Motor just launching.

 
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  Practicing for airshow during departures. Controllers for departures on 18R. Long line behind us. Lining up on left and right sides of the runway for depatures. We line up left of the blue dot.

 
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  Lifting off from 18R, past the airshow planes. STOL planes, DC3, B52, show center. Bottom left silver C140 then red Stinson, that was our row, we were all the way far out west.

 
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  Passing the grass ultralight strip, departing southbound. North end of the South 40 of Vintage, lots of empty spots. Further west, the camping area with a bijillion airstreams. The "South 40"

 
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  South end of Vintage's "South 40", looks like it never filled up. Brenda flies the departure, 1300 MSL. XM shows a big storm to our west. We debate going around to the south, as going north takes us through Fisk/Ripon area. Bob Brenda flying the departure.

 
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  Sue selfie Crossing the Mississippi River Lots of little islands in the river.

 
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  Cool cloud swirls Interesting shapes from the topography of farming here. Cool colors from what has already been harvested.

 
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  Engine stop at FNL, home! 8.0 hobbs return trip, we're hot and tired!

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