A Full Week at EAA Airventure
The last week of July, I attended the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Airventure 2010 in Oshkosh, WI. It was my second year attending the “World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration”, this year for the full week. EAA put together a great experience for over 500,000 aviation enthusiasts despite the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature as the area had massive amounts of rain the previous week, so much so that the term “Sploshkosh” was heard more than once during the week.
As one would expect, aviation enthusiasts abound at Oshkosh. On the first day I ran into Jack Kearby and his SE-5A. He spent over 11,000 hours building it from original plans, what an effort! Later in the week I finally met Jim Zazas. I had been communicating with by email, and we were able to see each other’s photo prints of “Checkertail Clan” the P-51 Mustang Jim had flown at Airventure 2009. Then there was Danny Abbot with his Grumman Widgeon, which has the original Ranger engines. Dan not only allowed three sun-baked photographers to use his wings as a sunshade, he offered us chairs and cold drinks. The friendly atmosphere is catchy, so much so that it inspired me to become an EAA Member this year.
My enthusiasm had been building all through the spring with every news release of planned events on the Airventure 2010 website. The main theme this year was a “Salute to Veterans”, a tribute to all the men and women who have served in the military of our nation and other countries through the years. There were special events planned throughout the week.
Tuesday’s airshow included a sequence that purported to show the opening moments of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A student pilot and instructor were in flight when they spotted the fast approaching Japanese aircraft, the instructor spiraled the aircraft to a safe landing. They then abandoned the aircraft, which was strafed and set on fire by a Zero. After a brief aerial battle a Curtiss P-40 gets the jump on the Zero and flamed it.
Wednesday’s warbird show was a tribute to veterans of the Vietnam era. Flying this day were a F-4 Phantom II, two A-4 Skyhawks, an OV-1 Mohawk and an A-1 Skyraider, to name a few of the aircraft from this era that participated. It was a real thrill to see The Phantom II and the Skyhawks making formation passes in front of the crowd.
Thursday’s tribute to veterans started early in the morning when Flagship Liberty, an American Airlines 737 decorated with a yellow ribbon on its tail, departed Oshkosh. Onboard were 80 military veterans who were headed to Washington D.C for a day of touring the memorials that were erected in honor of their service.
In Aeroshell Square a parade and recognition of all veterans took place at the start of Friday’s show. Included in this afternoon’s warbird demonstration was a celebration of the first flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which took place on July 28, 1935. Four B-17s, “Thunderbird”, “Aluminum Overcast”, “Texas Raiders” and “Yankee Lady” took off one after the other, invoking thoughts of what it must have been like at countless bases in Southern England during late 1944 and earlier 1945. The B-17s flew in formation over the crowd followed by a stunning pyrotechnics display as they made a simulated bomb run.
Another highlight was the celebration of the seventy-fifth year since the first flight of the Douglas DC-3. On December 17th, 1935, which was exactly thirty-two years since the Wright Brothers flight, Douglas DC-3 NX14988, configured as a DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport), took to for the first time. Monday of Airventure week brought the drone of forty-four radial engines as twenty-two DC-3/C47s arrived in formation. At least thirty-nine DC-3s were present during the weeklong celebration of this aviation icon’s first flight. On Thursday four DC-3s in various airline liveries did circuits around the field. These airliners were led by very rare DC-2, the progenitor of the DC-3. This DC-2 is painted in the colors of TWA’s first DC-2 NC13711.
Since 1997 the United States Air Force has been conducting Heritage Flights the purpose of these flights is to present the evolution of USAF airpower by having a modern frontline fighter fly in formation with a fighter from an earlier era. Friday and Saturday’s air show both featured a Heritage Flight. Seeing 4 aircraft together in a Heritage Flight demonstration was a first time experience for me. The World War II era has represented by 2 P-38 Lightnings, “Glacier Girl” and “Ruff Stuff”. It is worth mentioning that these are 2 of only 7 airworthy P-38 Lightnings in the world. On Friday the Lightnings were accompanied by the modern A-10 Thunderbolt II and a Korean era F-86 Sabre. Saturday the formation was the 2 Lightnings, a Vietnam era QF-4 Phantom II and a modern day F-15 Eagle. The QF-4 has been configured as a drone and will end its service life as a target so that more modern Air Force fighters can test new tactics and equipment. Until then the Phantom IIs of 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron fly with Heritage Flights.
Of interest at Airventure 2010 was a replica of Martin and Osa Johnson’s Sikorsky S-38 Amphibian. The Johnsons captured the imagination of the public with their filming; both still and motion, of Africa and other exotic places. In late August the replica is scheduled to depart on a trans-Atlantic crossing to raise public awareness of “Wings of Help” an organization for children in need based in Frankfurt, Germany.
Also at Oshkosh this year was Canadair Sabre Mk. 5 Hawk One resplendent is its Gold paint. This aircraft is representative of the Royal Canadian Air Force Golden Hawks precision aerobatic team.
This is but a small taste of the sights and sounds of Airventure 2010. There is so much going on that it would be quite impossible to cover it all. I personally enjoy the warbirds the most. Being an engineer with a machining background I can appreciate the workmanship involved in restoring what were the forefront of technology in their day.
There has already been a news release for next year’s EAA Airventure. 2011 will be the 100th anniversary of US Naval Aviation. Celebrating this anniversary will be a central theme. It has also been announced that with NASA’s retirement of the space shuttle these craft will be relegated to museums. NASA wants to fly one of these craft on the back of its 747 carrier to Oshkosh.
I can hardly wait!!