EAA856 at Oshkosh
July 24, 2009 - Mike Clifton and Patrick Kelley flew on the 23rd to KOSH in beautiful weather, managing to beat the mountain monsoon by leaving at 5AM and only running into showers about 100 miles out of Oshkosh. The showers were easy to dodge and by the time we got to the field we were in sunlight and got to see a beautiful sunset as we tied down Mike's Maule M7.
We're here to help man the Copperstate booth but we are also helping John Seibold host a BBQ for our Air Academy students. Yep, these are the kids we sent, with the help of John and Valle Airport. The day of the event, Saturday, was mostly cloudy and spotty with rain in the afternoon. Despite that, we got to visit with Shaun, JD, and Ciana. The rain held off long enough to grill and the youngsters told us of all the things they had seen and learned about. The picture of the tower tells the story of the weather and the next two pictures show the BBQ. The group picture shows (L-R) Mike Clifton, John Seibold, Norm Gobeils, Patrick Kelley, Ciana, Shaun, and JD. Mike Clifton put a lot of effort into getting the teens sent to Air Academy while John and Norm were generous in their support of our efforts. Additionally, John allowed us to use his house at Oshkosh to host this BBQ for the attendees. Thank you, Mr. Seibold.
Monday saw the start of the show and Mike and Pat helped to man the Copperstate booth. During the day, we joined John Seibold and family at the Flightline Pavilion to watch the arrival of White Knight Two. The following airshow was cut short by thunderstorms but the evening was spent pleasantly with a BBQ in anticipation of more fun tomorrow.
White Knight 2 - short video of White Knight 2 flight demo
Tuesday saw the arrival of the Airbus A380 following a flight demonstration by White Knight Two. We've got video which we will try to get loaded and linked here. Tuesday evening was Van's Aircraft Banquet held at the Nature Pavilion. Pat, being an RV-6A builder, was in attendance and applauded the award of the "Bax Seat" prize for aviation journalism to Doug Reeves of the Van's Air Force web forums. It turned out that the Airbus A380 pilot was also an RV builder and was there to regale us with his tales of both building an RV-8 and test-flying the A380.
Airbus A380 - Arrival at Oshkosh video
Wednesday Pat attended the Web Editor's workshop and came away with a few ideas which should allow us to get a calendar on the chapter site as well as making video available to everyone, even those without a Facebook account. Somewhere along the way he paused to look at the billboard of aviation ads and spotted a really great show special (see the picture below). Anyone care to loan a few million for a great deal?
Wednesday there were periodic updates as Steve Allen flew in and then waited nearby for the airshow to end and allow arrivals on the field. The last update indicated that they were parked in the North 40, so Pat walked out in the morning to find them sharing breakfast with their neighbors under a canopy to keep off the rain that had arrived with them. The rain kept us from getting any really good photographs during the day, but below are a picture of their campsite with Steve and Jim McPhee working on making coffee and Brian Middlebrook at his tent near the front of the plane. Also along was Steve's grandson, TJ, who had quickly made friends with the cook next door.
Thursday after the rain pulled out, the weather was very nice - cool and fresh with a beautiful cloud display for sunset. Mike and Pat tagged along with John Seibold, his family, and the Valle Airport crew to attend the auction to benefit the Oshkosh Museum. It was amazing to find yourself chatting with Kermit Weeks or see Harrison Ford a few tables down. The museum made its target (and, really, if you have not been through the museum, you just can't understand how worthwhile it is to invest in this institution) amid much friendly bidding. The banquet was hosted in the Warbirds section and attendees got to see presentations from the Young Eagles interns, Jessica Cox, Sully and Jeff (the pilots who put their crippled Airbus into the Hudson river, in case you didn't recognize the names), and many other amazing people. Our heartfelt thanks go out to John and Scott Seibold for their generosity both to the community and to us personally.
Early Friday it was time to leave for Pat and Mike. We loaded up the Maule and made a departure from runway 27 at about 6:30am local. The weather was beautiful, with just a bit of low ground fog. During the day, developing weather forced us slightly south toward Albuquerque but we managed to avoid it without being delayed too much. We ended up flying the last leg home across the Coconino plateau as the sun was setting, giving us great views of the picturesque terrain (unfortunately, Pat was too tired to dig out his camera). 15.5 hours after departing KOSH, we set down at Flagstaff airport and wearily loaded our bags into our vehicles for the ride home. Another Oshkosh was over, at least for us.
