Experimental Aircraft Association
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh '98
Why EAA The FAA says there are only 600,000 or so active pilots in the U.S. That's a pretty small number of pilots. Not all pilots agree with each other because even in this very small group there are different interests. There are IFR pilots, VFR pilots or the pilots of homebuilt, antiques and classics plus the commercial and recreation pilot. With such a small number of pilots, and fewer than 200,000 airplanes in the country, you can see that all aviation enthusiasts would not be on the same page when it comes to the many problems facing aviation. But EAA is here to bridge the gaps. The EAA is the only organization that effectively represents and includes everyone who flies or simply wants to be involved with aviation. Become a member of EAA and you will find out what I mean.
What's There You might ask yourself what's the big deal all about? Oshkosh sounds like some jeans I had as a kid (smile). Well Oshkosh Airventure 98 brings together so many different aircraft from old to new. Imagine aircraft of every shape and size from parasails to the Concorde as far as the eye can see. Even Pioneer Airport is still there with its grass strip.
The thing I like to see (being a pilot myself) is the new innovations in flying. I even had a chance this year to take my first ultralight flight and while it was a lot of fun I will stick with the enclosed confines of a regular aircraft. There is so much to see. There seemed to be a lot of companies promoting GPS this year like never before. One of the guys there even said he could see the day when waypoints would be the thing of the past (I'm not so sure about that statement).
Also there was a lot on communications and weather equipment on aircraft and its changing roles. Its hard to believe but at present the pilot in the cockpit of a commercial airliner has less info on weather than you do sitting in the cabin of a commercial airliner with a laptop. That will change soon for the better. Also coming are small ELT's (emergency transmitter locators) and smaller two way radios, even two-way aircraft radios so small they disappear in a shirt pocket with the battery installed.
There were also some manufacturers there with soft controls were you just have a CRT with all the flight controls on a touch screen. Now I might be old fashioned but give me a gyro and a barometer any day over that. I'm sure there is a lot of work to be done in that area and the people showing were surprised at the level of questions about it.
Let us not forget the experiment and homebuilt aircraft. Some of these designs are really innovative. I even saw an experimental aircraft that ran on the old Chrysler 318 car engine, on normal auto gas...this gives a whole new meaning to the Sunday drive. There was also one that was a jet powered experimental and very small. The homebuilt aircraft has come a long way! More and more people are building their own aircraft.
AirVenture is unlike any other air show. Most of the people that come to the local air shows are not pilots. They enjoy the neat aerobatics and marvel at the planes. AirVenture is different in that the people who come are mostly pilots. And like one show pilot put it "its like doing show in front of all your friends".
The Concorde British Airways' supersonic "Concorde" jet returned to Oshkosh for EAA AirVenture '98. The sleek, delta-winged jet arrived at 12:40 p.m. Friday. It was the first time in four years that the supersonic aircraft has attended AirVenture. The Concorde departed the morning of Monday, August 3. During its stay, the Concorde flew four flights: two on Saturday, August 1, and two on Sunday, August 2 which headed north to Canada before returning to Oshkosh. The Concorde seats 100 people and has a very tight cabin area. Unfortunately there were no tours inside the Mach 2 aircraft.
Simmers For the first time there was a real effort to see the flight simmer as a part of accepted aviation. One of the major show sponsors was Microsoft Flightsim 98, and even the FAA building had demos of flight sim programs including FS98 with real life yoke and pedals. I even talked to some pilots of 40 and 50 years flying time in the left seat who use simulators at home.
There was a forum called Flight Simulators (not a game anymore) and there was very little argument that using a flight simulator was a good idea. There is more learned in most cases however it was agreed that simmers do learn bad habits. But the instructors do say it helps and in most cases the simmer who takes the next step to realism is greatly helped by the time in the simulator. Also, recently the FAA has allowed for time using a flight simulator as logable flight time for instrument training. (I'm not going into that here because it's very involved at best and better found at http://www.faa.gov.) If you have ever thought you only can fly simulators because you can't get a pilots license due to medical problem, that has changed too; again go to http://www.faa.gov.
First Time at Oshkosh Aerobatic pilots Sean D. Tucker and Patty Wagstaff perform together for the first time at Oshkosh. Sean was in his biplane and Patty in her monoplane. They performed many aerobatic moves including a dual ribbon cut. It looked like a game of horse only with aircraft rather than a basketball. They both had their own shows as well. Sean did have a forum on the aerobatic dance which when you look at his show after going to that forum it is a dance. If you have never seen aerobatic flight it is something to see and Patty and Sean are two of the best.
Nearly A Safe Fly-in There was two mishaps this year at AirVenture. First was a gear up landing of a P-51 Mustang which landed at Oshkosh Tuesday with the right main gear retracted but had the benefit of skilled piloting and planning to maximize safety and minimize damage. The pilot discovered the landing gear problem and circled the area while they reviewed procedures for trying to lower the gear. When it would not come down, she than requested the use of Runway 36 to take advantage of a stiff crosswind that would help keep the Mustang off the right wingtip until speed was reduced Then, as anticipated, the dragging right wingtip moved the Aircraft safely into the grass beside the runway. The pilot was not injured; damage to the P-51 is repairable. Also there was a fatal accident when a training jet crashed into a residential area killing its passenger. This was the first air crash in the city limits of Oshkosh and due to the excellent flying of the pilot there were no injuries on the ground.
Mooney Pilots Mooney pilots who made their first group arrival to an Oshkosh fly-in Tuesday enjoyed it so much they are planning to do it again next year...with even more airplanes. There were 42 Mooneys that made this year's flight. The caravan formed up in Madison, Wisconsin, and took about 35 minutes at 125 knots to cover the 62 miles to Oshkosh. The flight was promoted entirely on the Internet and was advised by officials of the American Bonanza Society, which has been sponsoring a similar mass flight to Oshkosh for its members for several years. Mooney Aircraft Co., which completed a total of 86 aircraft last year, is on schedule to deliver 91 in 1998. Next year's total will include Ovation and Bravo models plus the new entry-level M20S Eagle. Mooney is planning to restructure its production line by focusing on its extended-length airframe. Present inventory of the M20K Encore and the production schedule through the end of August satisfies near-term market demand.
Young Eagles More than 400,000 young people have
experienced flight through the EAA's Young Eagles program. There are
fewer young people keeping the aviation spark alive and Young Eagles
is helping spark an interest for those kids, as well as start the
interest for thousands of young people who are fascinated by flight
but haven't yet experienced flying. EAA's aim for its highly popular
Young Eagles program, is to fly 1 million kids by the year 2003.
Visit their website at
www.youngeagles.com.
Volunteers At the basic level, thousands of volunteers do everything necessary to make the fly-in possible. The tireless efforts of the volunteers show that EAA is not a business; it is really a club that welcomes all who share enthusiasm for flying. While some aviation associations appear to be little more than marketing efforts designed to shake down their members for money, EAA grows at a strong and steady pace by encouraging people to participate in aviation at all levels.
Final Thought I volunteered with EAA this year at AirVenture 98 and I had a great time. There is nothing like giving back to a hobby I love so much, and to see the look on peoples' faces who have never been here before. Or the look on kids' faces as they walk up to a WWI or WWII Aircraft or even the aircraft of Korea or Vietnam to see history looking them in the eyes and not from a book. To see an aircraft that was a dream just a few years ago come to life. To see what is new and upcoming as a lot of companies introduce items at AirVenture. And there is something to be said about that. When you think about it aircraft have not been around that long. And to see the complete history of aviation in one place words can not describe it.
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You Can Visit The EAA Museum In Oshkosh Wisconsin.
Visit the EAA Web site at
www.eaa.org
Visit the AirVenture Web site at
www.fly-in.org
Dan Vanevenhoven
dvaneven@rocketmail.com
