Sunday, August 2, 2009

Oshkosh 2009

I had a great time. This year I did a lot more socializing with fellow flight instructors whom I know from Palo Alto, CA. In addition, I renewed a lot of OSH-only acquaintances from last year at the house that I stayed at.

Lyle was at the house again and we can never seem to cover enough aviation topics fast enough and Karl, the king of curmungeon'ness was there too (it's a lie, he is really a teddy bear).

This was my 3rd year. The weather was great. Locals told me that it was one of the coolest summers in 50 years. It was cool because I was able to walk to the OSH terminal building (about 4 long blocks) in the morning without being drenched when I got there.

My favorite thing? (What was your favorite thing is everyone's favorite question). I don't know. It's all interesting and I always manage to learn something new. I think I enjoyed getting to know some of my fellow CFIs a lot better. Martin and I had a pen truce which helped and I always enjoy his humor even when the world seems to be melting around him. Terry is a walking encyclopedia on the history of aviation. I hope that some of it rubbed off on me. He also made me come to realize that I may like tail draggers after we both drooled over the large Sherpa with its tundra tires, great weight hauling capacity and it's extremely short field take off and landing specs.

Some say the airshow is Disney Land for aviators. I think it is wish land for aviators: I wish I had that airplane, I wish I had that airplane, etc.

It is special being surrounded by so many folks who have a passion for aviation. We all knew why we were there and we all had that gleam in our eyes.