Thousands of rich people to gather in WI to celebrate having disposable money. (Oshkosh Fly-in)

[A HERETIC I AM]

Yes, the headline is inflammatory. I don't feel that way one bit. I just want to see how DU'rs will respond to this subject.

The Experimental Aircraft Association's 55th annual "Airventure, Oshkosh, The Worlds Greatest Aviation Celebration" (Also known as the "Oshkosh Fly-in")gets under way on Monday and will continue for 7 days, through July 29th.
http://www.airventure.org/index.html

A photo that captures maybe 20% of the total number of planes in attendance. (All photos from the 2006 event)

"Oshkosh Ground, I'm behind the Vari-Eze". "No I AM behind the Vari-Eze". "I AM THE VARI-EZE"

Camping with their baby

Mustangs in the Morning.

AeroShell Square

I love it. I wish i could go.


: Approximately 10,000 aircraft of all types, from Modern Air Force Bombers to Homebuilts, Ultralights and Privately owned Production will participate.

: An expected attendance of more than 650,000 people from 70 nations.

: More than 2500 pristine show aircraft ranging from innovative homebuilts to stately vintage planes to powerful Warbirds compete for awards.

: More than 800 commercial exhibitors featuring everything from T-shirts to the new airplane to match.

: A schedule of airshows, fly-bys, events and concerts that rival the largest airshows in the world.

: A small Wisconsin airport that becomes the busiest airport in the world for an entire week.

: A new city springs up on the airport, increasing Oshkosh's population by more than 50% as more than 30,000 people set up camp in tents, travel trailers and next to their own airplanes.


I think this is a wonderful event that celebrates the dream of and the love for flight and the innovation of the airplane industry.
It goes without saying that if you own a plane and can afford to take time off, fly your plane to Wisconsin and stay for a week, you have money. More than the average American, hence the title of this thread. So many DU'rs and threads seem to bash Americans that have money, i thought it would be interesting to see how this community reacts to another community's get together.

[OzarkDem]

1. Looks like fun, only one drawback

Our current system of air traffic control us under too much pressure these days not because of increased commercial aviation traffic, but because of the increase in private and corporate air traffic.

We need to find a way to levy fees or something to allow hiring of more air traffic controllers and updating the entire system.

[rodeodance]

2. Lots of good things about the show---after all these years it is 'experimental"

with lots of ordinary people really getting into the building of hobby planes or what have you.


Yes, it has become more commercialized over the years yet........

For one thing-----lots of stuff for kids to do.

[rodeodance]

4. I used to live in O.--rented out my apartment that week---made some nice

spending money.

[WritersBlock]

10. I'd have thought that general aviation would have decreased since 9/11

Has it really increased to the extent that it's GA traffic that's overburdening the system?

Wouldn't charging for ATC services generate a potentially life-threatening situation, in that some VFR / low-time pilots might be even more hesitant to ask for ATC services when they get in a sticky situation?

Also, seems to me that it's only a small step from charging for ATC services to forcing the agency to make a profit from those services.... and that is NOT a good thing for safety, regardless of the amount of lip service paid by management.

Just my $0.02 :)

[karlrschneider]

11. They have already outsourced the Flight Service Stations to Lockheed-Martin

and what little "service" remains is shit.

[WritersBlock]

15. I'm really very sorry to hear that.

Remember Wink FSS?

Ah, the good ol' days...

[tech3149]

18. Thanks for bringing that up

I read an article the other day that detailed the problems with FSS since the takeover. I have an old racing buddy that flies multi-engine jets for the truly rich. Since he mostly flies right seat he has the responsibility of doing all the dirty work. I'll have to ask him how much of a change he's seen over the years.

[karlrschneider]

22. I might know him, that's what I do too.

:-)

[tech3149]

27. I'll just say his last name is Engels

His Dad was a corporate for Westinghouse and then went to Continental. He's been bouncing around private and fractional for a while, but is working on an interview with the big brown.

[karlrschneider]

29. Doesn't ring a bell. Louisville isn't a bad place to live...

:D

[tech3149]

34. You're right about Louisville, but the job would mean Alaska......ouch! n/t

[karlrschneider]

35. Oops! Well, Alaska's nice too

in August. :D
\

[bamacrat]

3. Thats awesome, I have always wanted to own an old fighter plane from WWII.

[karlrschneider]

8. I have kicked myself a million times...had a chance to buy a P-51 for $12,000

back in the late 60s. It was in great condition but that was a HUGH amount of money for me those days. I should have like robbed a bank (j/k) or scrounged it up somehow. Now you can't touch one for under a million bucks.
:silly:

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. Ummm...Karl? Can i kick ya?

lol...hell man, if you had just thrown a tarp over it and let it sit for 40 years it would be worth $300,000!

[Ganja Ninja]

19. Yeah well back in the 60's a VW was under $2000.

Everything seems so cheap back then but you weren't any closer to buying it then then you are today.

[karlrschneider]

25. Well, it wasn't a total loss...I bought a PT-22 from a farmer down in Wharton, TX

about that time for $1500. It had sat in his barn for 25 years. I had a friend fly me down there with a spare carburetor, put it on the engine and flew the plane back to Tulsa. It used as much oil as gas (not kidding) because it had a broken bolt in the main connecting rod cap. :scared: It's a minor miracle the engine didn't blow up. But I fixed the problems and had a lot of fun flying it!

[tech3149]

32. yea, that's like the Austin 3000 I could have bought for $150 in 71

We've all had those magic deals dangled in our face and too many of us pass them up.

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. Here is a website that is a comprehensive list of airworthy warbirds.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/

You could spend hours looking through those. There are plenty for sale, too.

A guy who owned a company i used to work for owned a P-51, an F4U and a Hawker Sea Fury. He was killed in the Sea Fury in 2001 during landing. This is the very plane and i think that is Mr. Morgan at the controls;

[karlrschneider]

5. I'm planning to go, missed last year!

I imagine you know that it's possible to buy a small plane for less than what an average new car costs...and can easily get 15 to 20 miles per gallon. :-)

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. Yes, quite true, Karl.

And there are plenty available, no doubt. You can buy a kit plane for less than $20,000. I shouldn't infer flying is out of reach for everyone. it isn't.

I have several acquaintances that are flying up. One owns a Beech Bonanza like this one;


Something like that is going to run you $250,000 for one that is 15 years old.

Buy yourself a P-51 and you are at $1.2 mill for an airworthy example and $100,000.yr in maintenance and insurance before you go gear up!

[quinnox]

6. cool planes

That last picture is great. Those planes have all different sizes and ways of being sleek.

[Robbien]

7. There was a huge outcry about the carbon footprint of the Live Earth concert

Which in actuality when compared to the carbon footprint of hundreds upon hundreds of private planes flying to MI, you could host a couple dozen Live Earth concerts and not get close to the footprint of this event.

[karlrschneider]

9. Air Force One uses as much fuel on one trip as all these planes combined.

Just so you know...

[DemoTex]

12. Also, the future Burt and Dick Rutans will probably be lurking at EAA Oshkosh.

Burt Rutan designed and and Dick Rutan/Jeanna Yeager flew the Voyager (think Prius with wings) aircraft around the world. Innovation is often found in amateur experimentation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager

[neverforget]

13. I'm learning to fly this summer and wish I could go! That looks like a

lot of fun!

[Ganja Ninja]

17. I'm an EAA member and I attend the Sun N' Fun Fly-In every year.

It's the second largest show in the country next ot the one in Oshkosh. It's lots of fun. They usually have a balloon launch at least once during the week. They have powered parachutes, the regallo wing flyer's known a trikes, ultralight and light sport aircraft, antiques and home builts, war birds, commercial aircraft, military aircraft, sea planes, helicopters and gyro-planes plus rides in helicopters and open cockpit biplanes. Admission is a little steep for adults but free for kids under 14. It's a great place to go for a day of fun but be prepared to walk 10 or 12 miles over the course of the day. You could really spend 3 days there and not see it all.

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. I'm Treasurer of our local chapter (CH 66)

Hey fellow EAA'r!:hi: :toast:

I had an offer to get a ride in an O-2 up to Sun-N-Fun but the guy forgot he made the offer!

Ah well. I could have driven up, it isnt that far but i didnt go. Next year for sure!

[Ganja Ninja]

30. I don't fly or belong to any chapters but I go every year ..

just the same. One of these years I want to rent a camper and go there for 3 or 4 days. You can get so worn out after 3 hours and you just barely scratch the surface of all there is to see. Heck, you can spend a half hour in the parking lot looking over the motorcycles before you go in. Also you have to get there early to see the powered parachutes and ultralights since once the wind comes up they stop flying.

[karlrschneider]

21. I used to go every year when I lived in Tampa.

Great fun, almost as good as OSH. :D

[WritersBlock]

38. Can you get the lemonade recipe?? Please??

There's nothing better tasting than the lemonade at Sun 'n Fun. I've been looking for that recipe for years.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. Neat stuff.

As for complaining about disposable income, is that something people should really be doing on-line?

[A HERETIC I AM]

36. It happens on this website all the time but you won't read anything i typed

deriding the well-to-do. I was being facetious as hell in the thread title.

[tech3149]

24. The headline is more than inflammatory, it's just effing wrong

My friends dad and some of the people I know who go are anything but rich. Most of the people in the EAA are doing pretty well, but I wouldn't call them rich. I'd guess that 10-20% have spent years, if not decades, building or restoring their aircraft and pinched a damned lot of pennies to make it happen.

[karlrschneider]

28. The OP didn't mean it that way. Read the whole post.

:-)

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. I wish I could go, too

Since Oshkosh is the EAA's biggest event, I imagine a great many Experimentals are there. I flew in one a few years ago, a Van's RV-6A. :)

One or two of the local P-51s might be there. If anyone here goes, or has gone, lemme know if you see 51s called "Ridge Runner," "Flying Dutchman" or "Iron Ass." (The latter doesn't live here anymore, though. The owner sold it last year.)

Here's mine. :D

[karlrschneider]

33. Do you know if Dan Martin still owns the 'Ridge Runner'? I knew him

casually some years ago. I believe I met him at Paul Poberezny's house in Hale's Corners...

[Oeditpus Rex]

40. He does indeed

I often hear him or Brian Adams ("Flying Dutchman") out for a weekend spin. Once in awhile it's both of 'em, and it's a beautiful thing.

Adams is a dentist who takes periodic flights to San Diego, where he treats mentally disabled folks at some hospital or something. He once told the local airmen's association that on one of those flights he encountered a young controller who didn't know what a P-51 was. :eyes:

Crap. I just found out Adams sold the Dutchman to someone in Kansas last year. That means there're only two left here — "Ridge Runner" and "Polar Bear," a 51A owned by Jerry Gabe.

That's Adams on the right. The other guy might be Martin; I've never met him.



Curtis Fowles/mustangsmustangs.com

[karlrschneider]

41. Thanks for the update! I don't think that's Dan in the picture, unless he shrank.

;-)

[Oeditpus Rex]

43. I dunno, then

It's not Jerry Gabe, and it's not Hugh Bickle, who owned "Iron Ass." The only other local pilot I know is Ko Cooper, who took me up in his RV-6A, and it's not him, either. :shrug:

I can't find "Iron Ass" anymore in the list at mustangsmustangs.com of 51s still flying, so I guess the guy Bickle sold it to grounded it. :(

[cobalt1999]

37. I went in 2001. It was AWESOME!

It's one thing to see all the different aircraft, but they park them so all the same types were together. Where else can you see a dozen Lockheed Electra's side by side.

Every air enthusiast should go once.

[Squatch]

39. I was about to get all up in your grill, too.

Member AOPA, EAA

[A HERETIC I AM]

44. Hey fellow member!

:hi:

I have been thinking about starting this thread for weeks but with so many people on this board that seem to hate all things ostentatious or even slightly fossil fuel burning, i was concerned it would disappear too fast. I knew there were hundreds of aviation enthusiasts too, but the naysayers on DU tend to drown out enthusiasts, regardless of topic. Witness any thread having to do with Motor Racing, for instance.

I'm glad you read through my OP and didnt get up in my grill (or cowling, as the case may be!;) )

[conspirator]

42. That B1 is a beauty n/t