AirVenture Oshkosh: Rainy Day

 DAY 3 (July 27th) 

Rain poured down on Oshkosh. Parking was never a problem at EAA AirVenture.They made sure there are plenty of room for everyone. $8 per day. The parking lot is a just big piece of grassland near the Wittman Regional Airport. It was a fine place for visitors until the rain kicked in. It was all mud, then. One of our cars did, in fact, experience some trouble at the end of the day.

But even in the rain there are a plenty to do there. The EAA Museum is indoors and dry. The exhibition takes up two stories of the building just outside the gates of AirVenture event grounds. This is the place to learn about what we've seen outside for the past two days. It is a place of discovery. What delight it is for aviation enthusiasts to walk under an up-side-down aircraft frozen in the act of an aerobatic maneuver!

Also, there are speeches arranged(not only on rainy days, of course!). This is the chance to get to know more about historical flights, and to listen to the minds of designing masters. 

I've got only this much to say: Do not miss the museum when visiting the EAA AirVenture! It is every bit as good as the show outside. 

a prize-wining duration model

an amazingly realistic paper model of an engine

Rutan's SpaceShipOne on display

 ferro fluid

[Recipe] Snow Cake

Ingredients*:

1. Milk 1000cc (whole milk tastes best)

2. Corn starch 100g

3. Sugar 100g

4. Coconut powder sufficient

Directions:

1. Add 500cc milk and 100g Sugar. Cook over low heat. Bring to boiling.

2. Mix well 500cc milk and 100g corn starch.

3. Pour mixture from step 2. into mixture from step 1.. Continue to heat mixture, stiring till it becomes sticky.

4. Pour mixture into pan (the depth of the mixture should be about 1"). After cooling, let it set in the fridge overnight.

5. Remove form pan then cut into squares.

6. Coat all six sides of the squares with coconut power.

*Makes approximately 24 1" cubes. 

AirVenture Oshkosh: More Than Airplanes

...  DAY 2  continued.

What is there at the AirVenture apart from the air shows? Companies like Honda and Ford set up their own hangers, too. There were antique and vintage cars on display as well. Homebuilders came to look for good deals on parts. Companies came for the great flow of costumers.

Ford has donated an one-of-a-kind Blue Angels Mustang to EAA for auction. The money from the auction will go to the EAA's Young Eagles Program. I saw this beauty today. She rotated slowly in the middle of the Ford hanger, gleaming as her paintwork caught the spotlight. Her body reflected the admiring faces of the onlookers. This had to be the most gorgeous machine I've ever seen. And to think that someone, at the end of the event, would be driving her home makes me dizzy. How can such a lovely thing even be driven on the dusty road?

Honda had taken their infamous robot ASIMO over for two demonstrations today. I've seen it in action on YouTube a number of times, but to see it in person... For one thing, ASIMO was bigger than I previously thought. Now it could run, too! Honda was showing off its great ability to stabilize itself. (See it here!)

My friend once asked me that, as we are not sufficiently loaded with the knowledge of aircrafts, wouldn't it be a waste to go on such a trip? He was concerned that people will all be talking about things that we cannot understand. I told him then, that I would go prepared, I will learn a bit more before I go anywhere. However, it turns out that EAA AirVenture isn't something anyone can prepare for. Nor is it really necessary. One doesn't need to know how an airplane take to the air to enjoy the air show. And then there are these companies, they all come here to show off their many new technology and innovations. They are trying to EXPLAIN things to people. We came to learn. For someone that knows as little as I do, I'm saying I've learned a lot and it was never a waste of time and money... far from it! When I left Oshkosh three days later, I was all ready to point to the sky and identify the plane that happens to be flying overhead. More than that, I'm able to tell anyone that happened to be standing nearby about her specialty, and a little of her history and past  stories. What's more? I wouldn't even sound like I've just learned it all during the past five days.

AirVenture Oshkosh: Celebrating 100 Years of Naval Aviation

 DAY 2 (July 26th) 

Fi Fi on the main road

More military aircrafts flew in every day. The B-29, Fi Fi, came in this afternoon, just before the air show. Everyone was talking about it. One of the volunteers urged us to go to the main road to see her arrival. The place was flooded with people! And, boy, wasn't she a sight sight! Massive, hardy, and beautiful! People crowded around her, cheering. Her pilot waved, and it was like an early 50s movie, as if she just won a war! Many planes'(especially military birds) cockpit were open for visitors to see(for a fee), so is Fi Fi. However, for a popular aircraft like this one, be prepared to wait in line for quite some time.

The Red Tail Mustang flew at the show today. Judy Phelps, also, made a tribute to the Navy on her beautiful silver plane. I love that plane. It gleamed in the sunlight like an angel in the sky and her pilot do flips and rolls in such a graceful way that made everybody sigh with wonder. And then, in honer of Bob Hoover, three pilots try to recreate his amazing stunts. I know little about stunts, but shutting down one of the engines in mid-roll did look terrifying difficult. The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team performs everyday, yet never once did they bore the audience. The Jelly Belly plane, along with the Jelly Belly van, showed how accurately they can control their speed and direction by touching the top of the van with the plane on one wheel first, taxi  on top, and finally landing on top and stopping together. I wondered how they're going to get her off the van at first. but then they showed us. She was such a light plane that she can take off at a speed of 60 mph, and so together they sped up to that speed and off she went!

It's hard to believe how anything else can beat the excitement of the air shows, but the Blue Angels did. I missed them touching down at Air Venture. I did, however, went in time to see one of them preparing for a small practice. To say I felt her engine stating would be much more accurate than to say I heard it. It was like being punched in the heart. Hot air shot out of the double engines, making everything behind it fuzzy. The way she taxied to the runway never suggested how much force she has. She shot off along the runway, like a rocket! The rumbling of her wheels on the concrete tore through the air. And off she went! Kicking up gear(if this is the right way to say it), the deep purring of the engines was joined by the high pitched cheering of the crowd.

I remembered most about the air shows, but AirVenture was more than that. Had I have time, I would have liked to join in on the forums and the night movies. But it was an event so full of surprises that no person, I believe, could have done all that they planed to do. Sometimes something just happen to caught your attention, and, oh! How easy it was to forget what one was doing and stopped to watch! I did it a number of times. And it wasn't just for beautiful birds, for machines and people, too. I shall say more on that, but not here. They belongs to other stories.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AirVenture Oshkosh: Day 1

 DAY 1 (July 25th) 

It was a beautiful day. The sun reflected off the paints of beautiful, homemade aircrafts. I was but a first-timer participating in the event. Everything was a wonder! I did not know that these wonderful birds could be built in the garage; nor have I seen an air show before then. It all came as a surprise.

The EAA AirVenture is held at the Wittman Regional Airport every year and the place is big. It's not large enough to be unable to cover on foot, but still enough to make anyone feel weary. They do provide shuttle buses, but it could get really crowded sometimes. I did wait for the next bus a couple of times, being unable to squeeze onto the first one. Once, many got frustrated waiting too long for a bus and decided to carry on on foot, tired as they may be. My advice: If one wasn't in a hurry, walk. And don't forget to wear good shoes! There are a lot to see on the way too, there is no need to rush by on buses.

One thing I enjoy about walking on foot was that I get to hear a lot from people's conversations. Because I did not have information about when planes are flying in. I listened to people, hoping to hear something like, "I think the B-29 is about to come in. Shall we go and watch?" or "Hay, did you know that Burt Rutan is flying this afternoon?" Much fun it did me. I read about rangers going to taverns to get information they want. I imagined it must have been like this. If there happened to be something I really want to know I could always ask, too. People are extremely nice around here. For all my ignorance, they were still happy to answer my questions (only later did I learn of what little knowledge I have of flying machines!). And of course, there were the pilots. The pilots are very cool people. They have an air of proudness about them. Here, they are treated as heroes. They spoke of tales of their adventures. And good stories they were, too: they flew over land and sea, through bad weather and through good; they got into trouble; they help others out of trouble... Young and old pilots all have something to say. And, oh! How they made me wish that I could fly, too!

AirVenture Oshkosh: The Air Show

...  DAY 1  continued.

There's no way anyone should go to the AirVenture and not see the air shows. The very best pilots performed here. It happened to be the celebration of the 100 years of navy aviation.. Many tributes were made during the air shows(I only learned this at the end of the second day). In the days to come, more tribute shall follow. On me first day, in the mean time I knew nothing. I just enjoyed the show.

Jelly Belly plane landing on top of the van, wing-walking, the Flash Fire Truck ( See it here. The "wall of fire," by the way, is another highlight of AirVenture's  shows)... they are all new to me. I was left gaping at the runway. Never did I miss an air show in all four days of my stay. I was captivated. My best photos of air shows was all taken on the first and second days. Because the sky being clear and blue,   these zooming birds show up like toys. Every shot more dramatic than the last. 

a volunteer stopping to watch the Wall of Fire

Whenever a plane flew away after their show, I felt a great feeling of lost. "If only, if only they can stay longer,"  I thought to myself throughout the two-and-a-half hour long show. Even though the sun was blazing, and many people got sunburned, it was completely worth it. I love how the glider was made graceful with her background music. And I love seeing historical warbirds flying overhead and imagining how they bravely flew over enemy skies and came home as heroes. As for the wall of fire, I was shocked. No way can I begin to describe what it feels like to see so much flame so close to where we were standing, to hear the deafening BOOM, then feel the hot air along with the shock wave swept into my face. Was it like this in the wars? If so, I cannot believe how anyone could have survived, or even have the courage to fight at the fronts in any war.

Most people go home after the air show. The hangers and shops all closes at 5:00 p.m.. Some do stay for the night. There are still forums and also the "movie in the woods." We did not stay. tired from the day's walking, we went home to rest and prepare for tomorrow.