vernon smith
Well Known Member
I flew SW Airlines into Mid Way Tuesday and made the three-hour drive north to Fond Du Lac, arriving a little before noon. There is a shuttle bus service between the Fond du Lak airport and Oshkosh every hour so I caught it and rode north to Wittman Field, a 30-minute ride right to the entry gate. I don’t know if there is a best way to get to Oshkosh during this time period but I assume none of them that are remotely affordable are good. When you pack a scadillion people into a small space with limited road access the result is never good. The way I did it seemed to work as well as could be expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event but my reason for going was more educational than observational. I spent most of my time in exhibitor’s tents and forums with little time spent watching the never ending activities in the skies. I’ve been going to the Reno Air Races for years but Oshkosh is a very different animal. Multiple times more commercial displays and attractions with a much younger crowd. Reno is truly hard core with the emphasis on performance and racing. If you are taking the family go to Oshkosh.
Here are some armature pictures with even more amateurish comments below the pictures;
The main military attraction was the B1B heavy bomber, very impressive up close.
Here is the bomb bay in the B1 which is huge with two bays, the legendary rotary bomb dispenser has been removed.
The greatest generation had Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall on the noses of their airplanes, here is what todays PC air force sports :^ )
The airplane the Air Force has been trying to mothball for the last fifteen years and Congress wants to keep in service until 2100.
The Wart Hog’s six thousand rounds per minute Gatling gun. I wonder if the LED landing lights were on the “A” model?
Blue Horizon was a last minute show to one up Space X in their ongoing knife fight for space PR and media attention. Elon Musk is probably planning on returning one of his first stage rockets to show center at Reno in September. I have not figured out how to insert a picture into this web site higher than wide without it displaying sideways, but I’m still working on it.
All the Blue Horizon reps on site wore identifying shirts so I asked one what temperatures they were seeing on the bottom side of the returned booster. The reply was “the engineers never talk about things like this”. OK, fifty thousand folks per day are supposed to ogle at it but the temperatures that discolored the bottom are classifies?
The Europeans (England soon to depart) sent their new heavy transport, the only foreign governmental display I saw. It’s a great looking airplane with impressive counter rotating six blade propellers. Like most new military aircraft it’s had a troubled development cycle but is now operational.
I have no idea what this is but it’s certainly an experimental and must be one of the neatest looking planes at Oshkosh. There were many there that looked just like it and must all cruise at 350 kts plus.
I thought this was an interesting way to display the interior structure of a biz jet as well as the capabilities of the vinyl wrap sign shop technology.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event but my reason for going was more educational than observational. I spent most of my time in exhibitor’s tents and forums with little time spent watching the never ending activities in the skies. I’ve been going to the Reno Air Races for years but Oshkosh is a very different animal. Multiple times more commercial displays and attractions with a much younger crowd. Reno is truly hard core with the emphasis on performance and racing. If you are taking the family go to Oshkosh.
Here are some armature pictures with even more amateurish comments below the pictures;
The main military attraction was the B1B heavy bomber, very impressive up close.
Here is the bomb bay in the B1 which is huge with two bays, the legendary rotary bomb dispenser has been removed.
The greatest generation had Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall on the noses of their airplanes, here is what todays PC air force sports :^ )
The airplane the Air Force has been trying to mothball for the last fifteen years and Congress wants to keep in service until 2100.
The Wart Hog’s six thousand rounds per minute Gatling gun. I wonder if the LED landing lights were on the “A” model?
Blue Horizon was a last minute show to one up Space X in their ongoing knife fight for space PR and media attention. Elon Musk is probably planning on returning one of his first stage rockets to show center at Reno in September. I have not figured out how to insert a picture into this web site higher than wide without it displaying sideways, but I’m still working on it.
All the Blue Horizon reps on site wore identifying shirts so I asked one what temperatures they were seeing on the bottom side of the returned booster. The reply was “the engineers never talk about things like this”. OK, fifty thousand folks per day are supposed to ogle at it but the temperatures that discolored the bottom are classifies?
The Europeans (England soon to depart) sent their new heavy transport, the only foreign governmental display I saw. It’s a great looking airplane with impressive counter rotating six blade propellers. Like most new military aircraft it’s had a troubled development cycle but is now operational.
I have no idea what this is but it’s certainly an experimental and must be one of the neatest looking planes at Oshkosh. There were many there that looked just like it and must all cruise at 350 kts plus.
I thought this was an interesting way to display the interior structure of a biz jet as well as the capabilities of the vinyl wrap sign shop technology.
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