| Oshkosh or
should it be Airventure - in either case the ultralight
section was still found down on the farm. While I have
attended Oshkosh since 1978 it does not hold the same
"feelings" that Sun N Fun does. Perhaps it is
because Sun N Fun comes after a long cold winter, bringing
warmth and sunshine while Oshkosh comes in the middle
of a long hot summer, with usually even hotter temperatures
and longer days!
In past years the show started on a Sunday and ran
through until Saturday. For whatever reason the folk's at
Airventure decided several years ago to change the start to
midweek. This in essence screws up two weeks for people
covering the show, and for exhibitors. Before the change you
could set out Friday be at the show sometime Saturday, which
allowed you to have your booth up and running by Sunday
morning. With the change you now have to leave sometime on Monday
to arrive on the Tuesday to set up for the Wednesday show
opening. Then since the show does not officially end until
the next Tuesday, and you can't leave until the show is
officially over, it means that by the time you pack up and
make the trip home another week has gone by. For a small
businessman the cost of attending Oshkosh can be very
expensive! Especially when you consider that by the last two
days most of the planes, and people have left! This year it
seems that more left earlier, and fewer attended
I was a little late getting to the show this year and
didn't show up until Thursday. I booked into an already
packed campground, in fact I was unable to get into the
ultralight camping area as it was full. The next
business was to obtain press credentials, and my flight line
pass, which are getting harder and harder to obtain each
year. One of the items that comes with your press kit is the
program. It was very interesting to note, they have a
full list of the "announcers, performers, etc."
for the conventional end - but not one picture or mention of
any of the volunteers from the "ultralight
section". Well enough gripping! Lets get on to the
show!
When covering a show
like Oshkosh you are basically looking for
1: What's new?
2: What's changed?
3: What else needs to be written about?
What's NEW? - We
will break this down into aircraft and engines.
Aircraft:
This year there were several new designs, or at least
new to me. These included the Flying Squirrel, the
MIFYTER, the Ridgerunner, the Valour A-22, the
Comet,
For more information click here
Engines:
There were several new engines at this years show
including, two new engines available from ASAP in the
MZ line, the Wankel rotary gas engine flying on
several planes, a new DIESEL Wankel, Walter Mikron
engines, more on the Motavia, a single cylinder Honda
with the power of a 277 Rotax?
For more information click
here
What's been changed or
updated?
Changed or updated craft included the Orbitair, the
Cloudster 11, the Para-Cycle, the Valkrie, a strut
braced Quicksilver, the GEN-4 single place helicopter,
the Fokker DR-1, the Eureka,
For more information click here
What else?
How about a plans built hangar from LAPS, a Murphy
Maverick built by high school students, building an
Eros from TEAM, Father Goose, Interplane U.S.A.
For more information click here
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