OSH Awards - They're posted

http://www.airventure.org/news/2011/110731_awards.html

I've been watching for these since I left OSH. There were several very nice RV's on the field but I've been watching for the results because I wanted to see how N130YS ended up. The airplane was mind blowing.

As the sun sits on Oshkosh 2011, N130YS walked away with a Gold Lindy - Grand Champion Kit Built.

What a beautiful airplane and a job well done.

Phil

Any links to photos? A list just isn't the same as a photo...

greg

One silver winner came from my EAA Chapter after a build that took about 20 years. It's good to see him recognized!

Thanks EAA for the award.

It was very nice that the EAA judges listed me as a
winner of a Bronze Lindy for building a Velocity XLRG-5.
Theere is only one problem, I have built only one homebuilt
which is a RV-7A and have never had any planes judged
at Rockford or Oshkosh.

Tom Webster
Columbus, OH

I overheard a bathroom attendant tell someone that none of the good planes were in HBC, so don?t bother walking through that section. What????

As I was packing to leave on Saturday morning when a couple and their 15 year-old son from SD were walking through the very back of HBC, where I was parked, and asking questions. They wanted to start building and were looking for people who had built their planes so they could ask questions regarding the build process. Their comments were all the judging I needed.

jrouault said:

Can't speak for the others, but I built mine.

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And you have my congratulations for your award Jason. That is a beautiful plane and i'd love to see it in person some day. You earned the Kit Outstanding Workmanship - Plaque you received, i am sure.

I too can't speak for others either, but mine was done by me. I was surprised and honored to get the Gold Lindy Award (and innovation award). I was asked (a few times) by different judges, if I was the only builder of the airplane or if I got professional help. So it seems like it might have been an emphasis item?

After seeing the fine airplanes last year that got the Bronze Lindys (one of my hangar mates got the Silver Lindy then -- Wayne McMaster RV-7), I was hoping I would get a Bronze Lindy this year. As mentioned above, I didn't think a gold would happen, but am so excited it did! Dave

Greg Arehart said:

Any links to photos? A list just isn't the same as a photo...

greg

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There's a note on the linked site that says photos will be provided eventually. I'd check back in a couple of weeks.

Bob Collins said:

Is there a breakdown somewhere of how many of the winners actually built their airplanes?

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My RV-10 was lucky enough to win a workmanship award this year, and I
can tell you that many of the the judges asked questions about who did the
work. I'm sure they are on the look-out for "pro-built" airplanes and tend to
favor the owner+builders who do the work themselves.

That said, the judging process is certainly not scientific. My same RV-10
was also judged in 2009 but did not win any awards; but maybe that was
because I wasn't present to talk with the judges when they came around.
I suspect that establishing some rapport and "builder credibility" with the
judges might influence your chances.

BTW, David Buntin's RV-8 is certainly deserving of his gold Lindy. It is quite
spectacular! I'm curious about which feature earned it the Stan Dzik
award for outstanding design contribution. David, do you know?

- Dan Benua
RV-10 N755SB

David, congratulations! Well done sir.

Glad to hear the judges were checking. Policy says the EAA will not turn away any judging entry, even those obviously pro-built. However, each judge gets to exercise his personal opinion in section 9 of the score sheet. It's not a foolproof system, but....

Innovation Award

The judges never said much or anything when judging other than for me to show them some unique features, of which I had quite a few. When I got the award on Sat., the announcer mentioned one that may have been the reason for the award (canopy seal).

Since the 8 (and other RVs) have had issues with the cold air on the back of the neck, I came up with a canopy seal that is a real option to cover the expanding and contracting of the fiberglass and aluminum to cover the gap year round (in an inexpensive way). I had a sample bag of the material and the construction process. Several friends said to have it because a lot of builders would be interested in it due to this common problem. The problem was we (three other buddies who I flew in with) were parked way back in row 323 since we flew in on Tues AM, so there wasn't much builder traffic like I was hoping for (to show this). The people who did come by were really liking it because I would show them how it worked on the airplane.

It basically is a mini shock bike pump (that racers use that had a quick blow CO2 cartridge connection that I got rid off). I located it on the left side of the canopy and it has a twist end that holds air if tightened, and releases it if I twist it counter clockwise. I ran small vacuum tubing through the existing bottom canopy support out the back to the smallest bike innertube I could find. I picked up some soft stretchable fabric (like stuff biker shorts are made of) from Hancock Fabricks (soft and wouldn't scratch the paint). I had (begged) my wife to sew the soft velcro to this "housing" of the inner tube so the tube would free float and be able to expand with no issues. Then I attached the more course velcro to the inside of the skirt so it would hold this stretchable housing with the tube inside it.

My canopy seal is pretty tight anyway, but I had my youngest shine a flashlight and blow compressed air from the outside when I was feeling/looking around from the inside, and it appears to work great. He never felt any drafts when he was my first passenger. The real results will be best proven in the winter, but it shouldn't matter. Six short pumps before takeoff and that's it.

I made a screwless aluminum spinner too that went over well. I made a unique sliding writing pad, a storage area one bulkhead aft of the rear bulkhead (for fly rods, shotguns or any other somewhat light/long items) and some other stuff. Some of it was copied from you guys, and some of it was stuff I came up with (with the help of some buddies that I ran it by).

The judges wanted a list of them all, so I gave them one. I have discussed some of this stuff on VAF, and hope to help whoever wants more info. I will write up the canopy seal construction (better than the above with pictures) in the future if you guys are interested. Maybe some of you have a better ideal to improve on it. Some guys from other planes (even certified) said they want to use the idea.

So, to answer your question Dan, I think it was the canopy seal that swayed the judges for the award, but I don't know for sure. Dave

db8 said:

I will write up the canopy seal construction (better than the above with pictures) in the future if you guys are interested.

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Very interested! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

congratulations David, and i hope to hear about the seal and your other innovations with pictures at some time in the future.

i think the lancairs have an option for an inflatable canopy seal, but i thought it was fairly small (like less than 1/2inch in diameter) and it was glued inside of the fiberglass canopy where there was a groove for 1/2 or so of the tube diameter when it was deflated. it sounds just like yours, but in more of a composite application.

Oshkosh Awards

Bob Collins said:

Is there a breakdown somewhere of how many of the winners actually built their airplanes?

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Can't speak for everyone, but I built 100% of my RV-7 Airplane (including the paint job in my home garage) investing 3300 hours over 7 1/2 years . We were parked in homebuilt camping at Airventure 2011 for the entire week with a lot of other very nice homebuilt planes. Our airplane was judged while we were not at our campsite (13 judges signed the sticker) and we were thrilled to receive a Champion Bronze Lindy award. You don't have to have the most flashy, flawless professional paint job - it's all about the craftsmanship and how well built the plane is. I only wish we could have been present when it was judged to point out a few features unique to my plane. We had a great time meeting and talking with many builders and interesting people, and also had the pleasure of meeting Doug Reeves at the Van's Banquet.
Bob Babler, N797RB
Grand Coulee, WA
http://profile.imageshack.us/user/RV7pilot/

Editorial Note:

I moved a number of posts regarding the legitimacy of the award winning airplanes which were quite rancorous and cast aspersions upon some very deserving award winners.

These posts were not deleted, they were moved to another thread - but come on - talk about throwing a wet blanket on someone's moment of glory!