Oshkosh 2014

I am finally getting aroung to posting about our trip to OSH. Have you noticed, now that I have a flying airplane, the blog posts have slowed significantly?? :) I will still try to keep you up to date from time to time about our flying adventures in Wablosa. This is, however, the reason we slave away in the garage for years...to fly to far away places! So far, it has been a blast...it all still feels very surreal. You takeoff in Denver...several hours later you are halfway across the U.S. in Ohio visiting relatives. Crazy life! You'll get tired of me saying it...but keep at it, its gonna be worth it.

So, as I mentioned, we departed Denver heading for Ohio to visit Sheryl's family. We planned to spend the weekend there and then head northwest, past Chicago, to Oshkosh on Monday. This would be opening day for AirVenture 2014! 

Here are quite a few pics from our adventure...about 2300 miles round trip. All accomplished in an airplane I built. With each long trip like (now my fourth) this I learn a little more about the plane...and the pilot, its challenging, but a whole lot of fun.

As we headed east, I noticed there are more and more airports. A contrast to some of the barren wild, wild west, which I'm used to. I don't remember which airport this was, or where, just a cool pic.

As we made our way from Denver (95 degs when we took off mid-afternoon), the weather was good and amazingly the air was smooth at 9500'. Sheryl has become quite at home in the cockpit already. Quite a view...quite a life!

Of course, I made good use of 'George' (autopilot) to catch up on my reading...while we puttered along at 8 gph.

It was clear until we advanced all the way to Illinois. I could see from my FIS-B radar that we had thunderstorms in the area and increasing clouds. I have to admit, at this point in my flying career I am very conservative. I was steering plenty clear of any cells. At 9500' we were now starting to encounter a ceiling below us. I stayed VFR on top for a little while admiring the view before finally ducking to the south to get under them and doing a conservative scud run to Ohio. I knew from ATIS/ASOS reports we had clearance below. 

After we ducked below, the scenery definitely changed. From bright beautiful sunlight to overcast and dreary. Here we are crossing the Mississippi River. Not a great pic, but cool nonetheless. We arrived in Ohio after dark and landed to Sheryl's mom and boyfriend waving us in. I was pretty pooped at that point, it was a long day for this ol' boy.

This was my buddy for the weekend...Gus, a Husky/Akita mix breed called a Huskita. Reminded me of my old dog Lakota. We had a wonderful time visiting in Ohio. I took Sheryl's mom, boyfriend and her sister for short rides. They all liked the 210mph high speed passes the best. 

We were weather delayed in Ohio with low ceilings and rain. We talked to some other RV-ers (RV6 and RV10) grounded with us. Finally it cleared up just enough (1300' ceiling) to get out of town. Once we got to Chicago it cleared up and was good into OSH. Arriving at about 1pm on Monday, it was pretty smooth sailing. Only behind one slow mover...a red high wing. I had it down to 75 kts and the nose was pretty high because of our weight. CHT's were ok though. 

The remote controllers asked if we were a "flight of two". After two calls, I responded..."negative from the Red RV"...the high wing didn't answer. Once she heard that, she sent him one way and me down Fisk Ave to runway 36L. Controller said..."Red RV, yellow dot"...down we came, the rest is history. I never did get to rock my wings though. :(

Our camp setup...not much to it since we couldn't bring much because of weight considerations. 

Life in homebuilt camping...

The damned infernal helicopter that buzzes over your head constantly in homebuilt camping (HBC). The whump, whump, whump gets just a tad old..."not even 30 seconds of silence to make a phone call" as one of my camp neighbors (RV7) stated.

Sorry folks...as you can see, I tend to take a lot of pics of my new airplane...call me crazy, but I think she photographs well! I am using fly-ties for my tie down stakes and Cub Crafters ratchet straps. Both worked well...but really weren't tested.

The Aeroshell team...always fun to watch...and photograph. It was an overcast afternoon in good ol' OSH...surprise, surprise. Every day this year, although nice and cool, was an afternoon thunderstorm. 

First time for the Thunderbirds at OSH...or any military demonstration team for that matter. I say...FINALLY! We purposely stuck around until Friday to see them. Always cool to see the T-birds or Blue's, although I think there were somewhat limited in their show because of the logistics involved (i.e., lots of people spread out over a large area). Oh, and the weather was horrible for taking pictures...flat light.

A nice sunset after a passing thunderstorm. I was amazed how many planes were departing during said storm...with lightning popping all around them. You guys/gals have more guts than me...I was glad to be on the ground.

A nice panoramic shot of the campground...from my seat.

A shot I took and sent to Bruce's canopy covers for promo use...I like my new cowl plugs...and canopy cover.

Sheryl checking out a nice motorcycle in the Honda tent...its not all about airplanes you know. 

Eating some good grub at the SOS beer brothers tent after a long day of walking. Crazy luck...I drew #5 for my ticket. 

Visiting the museum...and my favorite area...love that Eagle.

The view from the lawn chairs...sipping my morning coffee, supplied free in HBC.

When we left Saturday morning...the entire row was pretty much vacant. The homebuilt crowd tend to leave early. Notice row 319...the last row on the north side of the taxiway. That was where we ended up with our monday afternoon arrival. They told us we were "late" when we shut down the engine...opening day is "late" apparently. It was a drag being this far out...we'll try and arrive earlier next time.

Packed for home...notice how FULL we are. I was over my 100lbs in the baggage area. We need to learn to pack lighter. With camping gear, you reach 100 lbs fast! I ended up using my auxiliary tanks (which worked flawlessly) as ballast to keep my CG forward. I only would burn down to 15 gallons before refueling. When the CG shifts aft, it gets very sensitive in pitch. This is not something I recommend as a habit...and was a lesson learned on this trip. I only mention it as a cautionary tale. 

We landed at Wayne, NE for fuel. EAA advertised them as an FBO that had food and cheap fuel for Oshkosh pilots. We filled up on $5/gallon avgas and had free sub sandwiches while chatting with the staff. Great hospitality and facilities. 

A fine, prior OSH award winning Lancair Legacy gets fuel ahead of us. I chatted with the pilot--his name escapes me--whom most likely will be a judge next year. Nice guy.

Some goodies you get when you fly into OSH. Since it was my first with my new plane I got a perseverance award. Kinda cool...and appropriate. Perseverance is definitely the tool you need most to finish one of these buggers.

It was darn good to be home and sleep in our own bed! Not have to get dressed and walk to the port-a-potty to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...ah, the simple pleasures of life. We sat out on our deck with sunshine and no humidity and had a nice Colorado microbrew in my new mug. I reflected on the last 5+ years and thought, "Wow, mission accomplished!" I had flown the airplane I built to Oshkosh...the cherry on top of this long journey. I smiled at the thought of it all....