My first shot at Oshkosh was of a bald eagle circling the field.
Not a speck of dust on this amazing aircraft.
The venerable C47 celebrating its 75th birthday at Oshkosh.
The mode of transportation on the flight line.
This is how you find your way on the ground.
One of the control towers.
A beautiful P51 Mustang.
A DC-4 that served in the Berlin Airlift.
This is a homebuilt called a Dyke Delta.
A DC-3 (C-47) flying over the famous Brown Arch.
When I win the lottery, this Avanti will be my first purchase.
A Ford Trimotor flown by famous aviators.
A DC-7 done in old American Airlines livery.
A new Global Hawk autonomous drone. Notice how few people were looking at it even though it was probably one of the most expensive and newest planes on the ramp.
An average business jet until you look at the wing tips.
A Sopwith Camel and a Fokker Triplane
The new high-tech wingtip of that business jet designed to greatly improve gas mileage.
A classic 75-year-old DC-3. This was the first plane to shrink the world.
Another DC-3 from Southern California.
This is a one-of-a-kind Fletcher flown in from Northern California by the only pilot qualified to fly it.
It's a very unusual military aircraft with a bent wing.
Behold, the Flying Car!
This is also known as the roadable aircraft. It really works, folks.
A very unusual Rutan Grizzly. It has two wings.
It's not only planes at AirVenture.
Acres and acres of planes. Over 10,000 fly in for this event.
Many pilots camp next to their planes in a campground called the North 40. In the distance you can see the famous BEER balloon.
A bunch of old scout planes.
This reminded me of my wife.
This is a military aircraft called the Chipmunk. It's not exactly a fear-inspiring name. I would have gone with something like Rabid Chipmunk.
This one was for my wife who has the same name painted on her nose.
This was an amazing restoration.
A "typical" WWII encampment.
This is a Yak 11 sunk in the wet grass up to her ankles. Just before our arrival they had 11 inches of rain.
They are trying to pull her up onto plywood squares.
Glacier Girl was literally melted our of a glacier in Greenland. Google her for an interesting story.
I have no idea what this plane is.
This is a very rare A-Model P51 Mustang that flew with the famous Tuskegee Airmen.
An A-4 from Vietnam.
Lady Jo is a Mustang from my home field at Santa Rosa. I've always dreamed of sitting in this amazing plane.
First Dave did.
Then I did. It's funny we had to travel to Wisconsin to sit in a plane from Santa Rosa.
All these old guys were upset I was in the seat. Too bad, boys.
A very rare flying Japanese Zero.
This is another one of my favorites. This is a Sea Fury. Notice how large the props are on this plane.
This plane is a monster.
Waiting to cross an active taxiway to see more planes.
There was a picnic area with very cute homemade pedal planes.
A GeeBee Racer.
This is a simulator of the Wright Flyer owned by the National Park Service.
Cris feeling the effects of his back medicine. He's either sleeping or praying he wins the lottery so he can buy me an Avanti.
Mickey and me from the Canadian reality show "Ice Pilots NWT." Google it to find out more info and then write PBS to get it aired here in the U.S.
Finally, I get to sit in the left seat of a DC-3! And, it's from Buffalo Airways who uses this plane every day as a passenger airliner. Still working after 75 years.
The grin is authentic.
Cris' dad flew these in WWII. He's honored beyond belief to sit in the seat of this amazing plane.
Just like his dad.
As we were sitting in the Buffalo Airways DC-3, the largest flight of DC-3's / C-47's since WWII flew overhead. It was an amazing site.
From the left is Mickey McBryan, some dude I don't know trying to get in on my shot, "Buffalo" Joe McBryan, the owner of Buffalo Airways, and little old me.
Here I join Buffalo Joe's copilot, Sean Barry, for a shot under their DC-3.
A very nice government King Air.
My prize shirt signed by the McBryan boys and later, Copilot Chris.
A homebuilt wagon used to transport grand children and stolen goods.
The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team.
Sean Tucker is the most amazing pilot I've ever seen. He made this plane fly sideways, backwards and inside-out.
An Army Stearman.
He was flying it close to the ground and sideways.
Sean Tucker flies thru two banners being held by brave volunteers.
And now he flies sideways thru the banners.
A great publicity stunt sponsored by the folks at Ford.
Our "secret" parking spot every day.
The famous Red Barn.
The producer of Ice Pilots introducing the premier of Episode 1 at Theater in the Woods.
The Ice Pilots family.
A new amphibious aircraft.
Cris tries out the Icon simulator.
Then we go see the plane on the lake.
I want one.
This is the Oshkosh seaplane base on Lake Winnebago.
It's an amazing setting.
On the left is Jeff Skiles, the copilot of the plane that landed in the Hudson. We saw him a few times at AirVenture.
Another one of my favorite planes, the P3 Orion.
A very rare flying DC-2.
Not sure why Cris is pointing at us.
We kept seeing this dude with the fancy boots and Cessna tube socks all over the place. He even stopped to talk to us (and he made no sense).
All veterans were encouraged to sign these boards as a tribute to those in the armed services.
West
South
East
The center of all the action.
Not sure what this dude had to to with aviation but they kept him outside the vendor fence.
A beautiful C-47.
A rare Corsair.
A Curtiss P-40K Warhawk.
A Japanese Zero.
The guy gets to fly the plane and the girl gets to stand on the wing. The guy gets his name on the plane. The girl gets to stand on the wing.
Jack Roush's plane crashed right were we were sitting just 10 minutes before this happened.
Too many big topless men riding small vehicles.
I think he was from Europe.
The famous Theater in the Woods provided us with entertainment each evening.
A one-person helicopter.
But where's the motor?
Look here.
The blades are propelled by rocket motors fueled by hydrogen peroxide.
Two American airliners being powered by a Delta APU.
Remember that giant helicopter? This is the rear-facing cockpit.
More planes.
Aeroshell Square.
What Santa does in the summer.
A very, very rare Supermarine Seafire. It's the British Navy's version of the Spitfire. Note the tail hook.
A photographer from Warbirds Magazine.
All these boys are in authentic uniforms.
Looks strange so it must be British.
This is the Seafire with its wings folded.
On a windy day you really need to lock the doors, please.
A new jet by Honda.
Cris and Dave got a little excited about collecting free hats and sunglasses.
Yes, those hats do make your butt look big.
Weird.
I almost had the perfect shot until this dude came over to see what lens I was using. Dork.
EAA Air Museum.
Space Ship One (Government, zero).
This was the first civilian aircraft ever flown into space.
The amazing Merlin engine that powers the Mustang.
Just in case you ever fly a B-17.
Or an A-20.
Sadly, this was the only C-46 we saw.
Biggest and most complex ship model I've ever seen.
What it took to support one B-17 bomber in WWII.
The Vari Viggen. An early Burt Rutan design.
The smallest piloted monoplane ever flown.
The smallest piloted biplane ever flown.
This is a functional replica. It flew as badly as the original.
An Italian Buggatti.
It was designed to be a racer.
This was the pioneer airport.
As soon as one took off, another landed.
An odd little plane.
And the odd little designer.
A De Havilland Mosquito.
A Supermarine Spitfire.
Unusual nose art.
Our humble campsite.
Dave is applying a fresh coat of bug spray.
The famous David Hartman.
The famous Ken Griffey Jr. who is working on getting a pilot's license. He owns a Cirrus SR22.
For one week, this tower lands a plane every 45 seconds.
A great plane for camping.
On our way out we wave goodbye to some of the volunteers at AirVenture.
Calling Mom to let her know we're on our way.
Showing Dave where soybeans come from on the family farm.
Don't ask why I have a plane in my hand.
Just woke up from a nap.
The airport where I earned my wings back in 1982.
The FBO where I signed over my paychecks in exchange for a rental plane and eventually a pilot's license.
My original home airport. I once landed a Cessna 150 on this ramp and rolled up between the hangars in a high wind. The crosswind was blowing 30 kts and my instructor didn't want me to leave the plane at another airport so he convinced me, via radio, to land between the hangars. This is my studly pose. I would be even studlier if I was in my F-14 flight suit.
Cris, partner in crime.
Dave, the other Amigo.
We flew from SFO to MSP, took my brother's van and hooked up a pop-up camper and headed to Oshkosh. I have no idea who's car this is.
Four cases of Leine's was a bit much but we did it anyway.
Dave and Cris' first Culver's experience. Note the deep fried cheese curds.
Deep fried cheese curds and a custard turtle sundae. That's Midwest eatin' you betcha.
Laughing about what their gastric systems are about to do to my brother's van.
Our first look at Oshkosh.
In line trying to get a campsite.
Our humble home for the week.
In the cockpit of Buffalo Joe's DC-3. You can see a small video camera pointed at me they use to film the show.
On the tail of a DC-3.
I hunted two days for this plane. It's one of the reasons I came to Oshkosh.
My favorite podcast stars get a gift from EAA Radio. Those bottles are a variety of Leinenkugel beer, the official beer of Oshkosh.
After Oshkosh we head back to Minnesota where I show the boys the largest mall in the U.S.
Behold! The grand cathedral of American capitalism.
The first store Dave hit was American Girl. I guess he just needed to get it out of his system.
I'm under Sponge Bob's butt.
These two are in big trouble.
We saw the real "Old Crow" just a couple days before at Oshkosh.
Headed home on an Airbus.
We connect in Denver.
Those mountains out there are going to make our journey very bumpy in about an hour.
