EAA Airventure OSHKOSH 2021, July 26 to Aug 1

[Big Ed]

Halfway there! I stopped at Rough River State Park in Kentucky. This place is way cool. It has all the typical state park facilities ... lodge, restaurant, cabins, pool, lake, trails, etc ... plus it has an airfield (2I3)! You can camp anywhere on the field and they have bathrooms, showers, etc.

I did have a maintenance issue enroute. Felt an unusual draft hitting my face and realized one of the hinge pins on the side window is gone. I brought some safety wire so I'll use that til I can get the proper materials. Which is, what?

 

[Bartman]

what's on the other hinge? Is it a piece of wire with the ends bent up or does it look more like a pin?

 

[Bob Turner]

It is a nail or piece of welding rod. $50 from ACA. Works for the trim crank on a Cub, too - comes in a fancy package.

 

[Bartman]

Just decided I'm not going to make it to Oshkosh this year. Maybe I'll get there next year and celebrate 40 yrs since I last attended.

Ed and others, have fun and safe travels home! Whatever pics you might share will be appreciated!

Bart

 

[Big Ed]

I'm camping in Wausau tonight, about 45 minutes north of OSH. Flew by the initial arrival checkpoint and it was mayhem. Planning to give it a go around 0900 tomorrow. Hopefully they still have camping spaces. I hear they run out.

The hinge pin is a straight piece of rod. The ends of the hinge are crimped to hold it in.

Pretty sure I used the wrong size D channel when I replaced the window seal. Too think, put pressure on the pin and eventually broke it. I wired it shut with safety wire. Will ask the factory on Weds.

 

[DanO]

What a terrific adventure you are having. I am envious. I was watching the OSH web cams and monitoring frequencies yesterday for a bit and it was a zoo! The airport was closed down for a while at the height of arrival activity when what looked like a Bonanza gear upped in the middle of 31 left...."welcome to Oshkosh..."

 

[Big Ed]

Made it!!

I flew over the arrival route yesterday at 5 pm and watched. It was a comedy of errors. Planes were nose to tail for the entire length of the procedure. They added an additional point south of Endeavour Bridge but did not update ATIS so there was mayhem at ENDVR.

I flew in this morning at 0900. Very tame. I saw one other plane during the entire approach. He cut in front of me at RIPON and pissed off ATC by flying 500 AGL. He had a heavy French accent so he might have been looking for someone to surrender to.

 

[DanO]

I really am jealous......

 

[Big Ed]

I just walked the entire length of the aircraft area from north to south, to visit a friend. The sheer scale of this thing boggles the mind. Took me an hour and a half at a brisk pace.

 

[Bartman]

I really am jealous......

Understatement!

More than anything I'm impressed with how easy Ed has made a relatively unplanned trip to Oshkosh look while also driving home the all around badassedness of an aerobatic airplane that can also carry a multi-day trip's worth of camping supplies!

Kudos to you @Big Ed! Have fun!

 

[Big Ed]

Got out of Oshkosh yesterday around 0900. Glad I didn't stay another day and get hammered by thunderstorms.

I stopped by the factory and be spent about 2 hours. Got the tour from Dale, talked to a tech and got some good tips, and bought some bits and pieces from Chad.

Camped last night at Johnson Lake, Nebraska, then continued on to Colorado Springs today. Great flying weather so far, but HOT.

 

[Bartman]

Got out of Oshkosh yesterday around 0900. Glad I didn't stay another day and get hammered by thunderstorms.

I stopped by the factory and be spent about 2 hours. Got the tour from Dale, talked to a tech and got some good tips, and bought some bits and pieces from Chad.

Camped last night at Johnson Lake, Nebraska, then continued on to Colorado Springs today. Great flying weather so far, but HOT.
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glad to hear you weren't affected by those storms. a bunch of our local EAA guys were scrambling to leave so I was wondering what you were going to do.

be safe in your travels, thanks for the update, and that is a beautiful little campsite you've got there!

Bart

 

[Bartman]

So who all ended up going other than Ed?

 

[Bruce]

I was there Tuesday and Wednesday thought I saw Ed’s plane when I went to the out of control class at IAC form.

 

[Big Ed]

I was there Tuesday and Wednesday thought I saw Ed’s plane when I went to the out of control class at IAC form.

I doubt it, unless you were really lost. I was as far south as it was possible to be and still be on the Oshkosh grounds. At the very southern edge of the South 40 camping area. At least 2 miles south of the IAC area. Though you might have seen me taxi out and take off at around 0830 on Weds.

 

[Big Ed]

Just got home. No weather delays until the last night. Ran into bad weather and darkness, landed about an hour from home and got a hotel room. Got up this morning and S-Turned through thunderstorms to get home. Typical Florida summer weather, though usually later in the day.

8 days, 3000 miles, 16 states. Big adventure, and a bucket list item checked off.

 

[Bob Turner]

All that work you did - you deserved a successful adventure.

 

[DanO]

I would love to hear some of the gory details.... Routes planned and taken? Altitudes typically flown? ATC services used, or not? Things you would would do differently next time? Unplanned deviations? Good stops, not so good stops? Whatever........
Or, I could wait for the book? Congratulations on your adventure!

 

[Big Ed]

Here is an overview of my planned routes. Each side of the triangle was a 2 day trip. I flew the trip pretty much as planned, with one exception: on the last leg home, I was tired of camping, so instead of stopping in Arkansas, I visited my cousin's lake house in northern Mississippi.



A few observations and lessons learned:

1. In the summer, flying at 9,500 provided welcome relief from sweating my ass off.
2. I had a serious case of ATC anxiety when I started flying again last year, so I decided to force myself to use FF as much as possible. I'd say I was on the radio 75% of the time. Definitely less stressed about it after 30 hours on the air.
3. I really dialed in my leaning game. Once I went 3 hours and 20 minutes and when I landed, I still had 15 gallons in the tanks. I don't use a flow meter or an engine monitor, just a single EGT.
4. 70% power is much more comfortable than 75% for cockpit vibration and noise.
5. My longest day of flying was 9 hours, and that was pretty long. I don't think I would try any further by myself, as I was concerned about falling asleep towards the end. 3 hour leg, lunch break, then another 3 hour leg is a pretty good plan.
6. Definitely take a repair kit with hand tools, spare hardware, etc. On a last minute whim I tossed a few feet of safety wire in my kit, and it came in handy big time.
7. I worked out a good data flow. ADS-B can be intermittent on long trips, so part of my runup was to hotspot my iPad to my phone and preload my software with the most recent winds aloft and NEXRAD. ADS-B enroute was very useful in finding holes between thunderstorms, especially when transiting a cold front. On my last trip, I rode out the fronts on the ground. This time, I challenged them.
8. A cooler fits great behind the front seat with water, ice, and soda. Did I mention I sweated my ass off?
9. 
10. When flying across Kansas and Nebraska, it is well worth the time to research airports with multiple grass strips. In addition to being useful on a windy day, they are just more comfortable and relaxing to land on.
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[DanO]

Terrific! Thanks.