Oshkosh, Tuesday

Tuesday was another great day, but hotter and stickier (but with a cold front forecast). My talk (Air Navigation, Past, Present, Future) went well, although it wasn't as well attended as last year. But then again, everything seems to be a little bit down from last year--aircraft, visitors, campers--I assume due to the high cost of gasoline. Still, the slide show worked, no one walked out, and I was pleased with how it went.

The Author's Corner that followed was less exciting. Author's Corner is essentially a section set aside in several of the different sales venues for authors to sit and meet people interested in their book, sign copies, and make some sales. I was assigned the 400pm to 515 pm slot on a hot afternoon with an airshow going on. I got exactly zero visitors unless you want to count the one guy who thought I was an employee and wanted to know if we had a certain book he was looking for (not mine). I have two more times assigned this week, better times, I hope on cooler days, and I hope with better results.

My wife and I have walked many miles looking at aircraft of all sorts. The photo above is my favorite so far, a perfectly restored Twin Beech, circa 1946, an important year for me as well as this aircraft.

Oshkosh, Monday

Oshkosh opened on a perfect day, sunny, good visibility, temperature in the low '80's with dry air and a nice breeze out of the northeast. It still got hot, but then again, it is summer.

This is a huge event for this area, of course, and while everyone knows about it out here, they don't call it "Oshkosh," because Oshkosh is where they live. They call it "EAA," which they know is the huge organization behind it. The EAA calls it "AirVenture 2008." I kind of like "Oshkosh," because that is what everyone in aviation calls it, you just can't do that here or they look at you with a funny look that says something like, "What do you mean "You're here for Oshkosh?" You're in Oshkosh!"

Opening day traditionally begins with the arrival of several fleets of "warbirds"--restored military trainers and fighters. The photo above was typical of their arrival.

Prelude to Oshkosh

I’ve been taking a break from posts for awhile for several reasons, but probably the main reason is that the last two posts, “The Test” and “The Way”, represented fairly major efforts and I sort of wanted to sit on them for awhile before I did anything new. Also, “Oshkosh” (more properly, “AirVenture 2008”), is coming up in just over a week, and I want to wait for that to begin anything substantial. My talk is ready, with, I hope, foolproof illustrations on a Picasa Gift disk, which I learned includes the Picasa software so it can be used on any computer. (Picasa is a free download from Google and works great.) I will also be promoting my navigation book at the Author’s Corner on three separate occasions. If you’re there, I hope you will come by; I will happy to personalize and sign any purchase. (Part of the proceeds go to EAA, a non-profit organization, so you will be helping them as well as me, a little bit more of a feel good sort of thing than a regular bookstore purchase.) My wife and daughters will be there along with one of my oldest friends, Rusty Sachs, a Marine Corp Viet Nam vet chopper jock with a Purple Heart to show for it. Rusty retired recently as the head of NAFI (National Association of Flight Instructors), a component of EAA. It should be a fabulous week and I hope to make regular posts with photos. (Last year's event provided many of the photos used on previous posts, including this one).

For more information on the event, including daily schedules (every afternoon features an air show, for instance), go to www.airventure.org.