Just got back yesterday from the trip of a lifetime. One Bonanza and one Debonair and 7 guys and about 3500 miles of flying. Lots of pre-planning most of which went out the window after leg no.3 .
For somebody who did most of his flying within 100 miles or so from home base, this was serious stuff. Luckily, the Bonanza had XM weather on board and what a great thing it is.
Flew from Chino, CA at 6am to Marana, near Tuscon. Then El Paso, across NM, parts of TX. One overnight stop in Kansas, (never, ever stop in Emporia if you can aviod it!) after dodging weather, then a couple of short legs into OSH. The arrival was everything I thought it would be, with dozens of aircraft in trail and at least two airplanes on the same runway - at the same time. On final we had four airplanes at once.
The event itself needs no commentary, I'm sure. I avoided most of the airshows though - the announcers/commentators during aerobatic displays are nauseating and should be more at home as WWF announcers. Still, seeing a Beech 18 doing aerobatics is amazing. Saw very little progress on the engine front, but lots of nice airplane designs.
I estimate about 15 miles of walking a day - it was exhausting.
The flight back was done in one day; Oshkosh, a stop in Nebraska and Wyoming. Across the Rockies at Spanish Fork, which had some of the most beautiful in-flight scenery I can imagine. We were nervous about poking through the pass, but it was anti-climactic; almost smooth sailing. Then downhill, stopped at Milford, across Las Vegas by night and back at Chino at 10PM local. We were all exhausted, but having 7 pilots to share the flying helped. I got four legs of the trip, (about 2.5-3 hours each) both times the mountain sections, and I am still in awe of the whole trip. We had a couple of camera-nerds on the trip and apparently one of the air-to air shots near Provo is National Geographic stuff! Look forward to seeing them all, but we're talking about 2000 pictures between all of us. Plus video through the windshield of the entire flight! Somebody will be busy editing for a few weeks. I'll post some of the best when it's done.
All in all, the trip of a lifetime for me. To be able to make a journey like this, makes me realise more than ever, how important it is to preserve our right to do this kind of thing. This would be a nightmare of bureaucracy in Europe and the cost would be insane; here is mean-average-income-me doing it. For about the same or less than airline prices, too.
Apologies to HBA members who wanted to meet up - I stored your numbers in my phone, which promptly died on day 2. There is always next year and I am contemplating Sun&Fun by Debonair next year....
For somebody who did most of his flying within 100 miles or so from home base, this was serious stuff. Luckily, the Bonanza had XM weather on board and what a great thing it is.
Flew from Chino, CA at 6am to Marana, near Tuscon. Then El Paso, across NM, parts of TX. One overnight stop in Kansas, (never, ever stop in Emporia if you can aviod it!) after dodging weather, then a couple of short legs into OSH. The arrival was everything I thought it would be, with dozens of aircraft in trail and at least two airplanes on the same runway - at the same time. On final we had four airplanes at once.
The event itself needs no commentary, I'm sure. I avoided most of the airshows though - the announcers/commentators during aerobatic displays are nauseating and should be more at home as WWF announcers. Still, seeing a Beech 18 doing aerobatics is amazing. Saw very little progress on the engine front, but lots of nice airplane designs.
I estimate about 15 miles of walking a day - it was exhausting.
The flight back was done in one day; Oshkosh, a stop in Nebraska and Wyoming. Across the Rockies at Spanish Fork, which had some of the most beautiful in-flight scenery I can imagine. We were nervous about poking through the pass, but it was anti-climactic; almost smooth sailing. Then downhill, stopped at Milford, across Las Vegas by night and back at Chino at 10PM local. We were all exhausted, but having 7 pilots to share the flying helped. I got four legs of the trip, (about 2.5-3 hours each) both times the mountain sections, and I am still in awe of the whole trip. We had a couple of camera-nerds on the trip and apparently one of the air-to air shots near Provo is National Geographic stuff! Look forward to seeing them all, but we're talking about 2000 pictures between all of us. Plus video through the windshield of the entire flight! Somebody will be busy editing for a few weeks. I'll post some of the best when it's done.
All in all, the trip of a lifetime for me. To be able to make a journey like this, makes me realise more than ever, how important it is to preserve our right to do this kind of thing. This would be a nightmare of bureaucracy in Europe and the cost would be insane; here is mean-average-income-me doing it. For about the same or less than airline prices, too.
Apologies to HBA members who wanted to meet up - I stored your numbers in my phone, which promptly died on day 2. There is always next year and I am contemplating Sun&Fun by Debonair next year....
