Wow, what a trip. I had an absolute blast at AirVenture, and want to go back again next year if I can.
As always, things didn’t quite go to plan last week. The weather made an absolute mess of things at Oshkosh, but everything worked out in the end. I got to fly from the DC area to Wisconsin in a beautifully equipped Cardinal and log a bunch of flight time. As this was my longest XC to date, I was extremely happy to have a knowledgeable and patient CFI sitting next to me!
We had a bit of a headwind heading out to OSH, so it took us almost 8 hours to get to KUNU (Staging point for the Cessna 2 OSH mass arrival). On Saturday, the storm fronts came through so we had to delay our departure. Then OSH closed parking, delayed us a few times, and finally it was clear that the EARLIEST we would be able to arrive was Sunday evening. That sucked as there were no hotel rooms anywhere nearby and not everyone had camping gear (including my flight buddy). It’s a bit of a long story, but we ended up leaving the airplane at KUNU, and getting a ride to OSH where there was an RV Camper already waiting for us (It was delivered on Friday).
Bright-side, I got to stay in an air-conditioned RV for the week with electrical and water hookups. Down-side was a longer walk to all the events and not being able to fly into OSH. Not a huge deal as many others had much worse situations. By Sunday afternoon it was clear that Camp Scholler arrival may have been worse than the FISK arrival. People were camped on the streets around OSH since the campgrounds turned into a muddy mess. Some were not able to camp until Tuesday (and aircraft parking didn’t fully open till Wed).
I did get to watch the Cessnas mass arrival, meet a number of RV builders, and chat with many of the vendors on-site. I think I logged 7 miles of walking every day, but ate plenty of unhealthy food to compensate.
By Thursday, it was time to pack up and head home. Flight home was slightly faster. Still had a headwind and some build-ups to dodge, but it was a shorter and cooler flight. Overall had a great time, spent a bit of cash, and am looking forward to going back again.
Now that I’m home, I’m back in the garage again and trying to put some videos up. Hopefully I can get caught up in the next few days and post my progress.