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!