Oshkosh - 20 Seconds of Fame

Saturday morning, expecting this to be the busiest day of Oshkosh and that was to be very true. First there was the EAA Chapter Leader's breakfast at the Nature Center. My San Antonio Chapter 35 friends were nice enough to invite me to join them, and by now any opportunity to get a free meal was more than appreciated. One of the advantages of staying on the grounds is that there are lots of these types of get togethers. Forgot to mention the Homebuilder's Breakfast a day or two before. These are a great place to meet new people. Just get your food, sit down anywhere then ask that stranger next to you how they got there and you have an interesting conversation going and an new friend. Need to get business cards with my email and a picture of my plane to make the exchange of addresses easier. Hung around till near noon, hated to leave, but had a meeting to make and about a mile of walking to get there.

A couple of days earlier one of the people from the Homebuilt Headquarters walked up to my plane and asked if I would like to fly in the Homebuilder's Showcase about 2:00 on Saturday. He thought my plane would be a good representative of what homebuilding is about. He gave me a form, which included a section to write a paragraph that would be read while doing the fly by. Had been watching the pre-air show flybys all week, with varying themes to showcase manufacturers, antiques, auto engines, etc. This seemed special opportunity to make a statement that one can fly 1100 miles to Oshkosh in a plane cost less than a used Jet Ski. Would estimate that most of the planes parked nearby cost 10-20 times as much to build and fly. Even the least expensive ultra-lights are 3-4 times as expensive and would be slow going on an 1100 mile trip, stopping every 75 miles for fuel. Know some do it and that is awesome. So, wrote the paragraph saying just that and turned in the paperwork. They said to come to the pre-flight briefing at 12:00 sharp.

The room was filled with about 20 pilots, felt so fortunate to be there. My first Oshkosh dream trip was going far beyond coming true now, getting to show off the plane on the biggest day, should I zoom by fast, climb steep, do a side slip to present the plane's top view for the cheering crowd.Earth calling Bruce. Pay attention to the briefing or you are going to make a real fool of yourself in front of your pilot peers. Just fly it strait, level, and be glad you get the chance to be there at all.

The plan is simple, line up based on how fast your pattern speed is. Put 100 mph for N88BK, putting me at number 14 of 20. Take off on runway 36 which takes you right in front of show center climbing to 200' AGL. They suggest setting the altimeter to read 0 before takeoff to make this easier. Turn right at the big blue dot painted about 2/3 of the way down the runway, climb to 300', fly to the street just past the airport boundary, then turn downwind. About the end of runway 36, turn base, descend back to 200', then turn to fly over the grass area between runway 36 and its east parallel taxi way till even with the tower. Then you make a pattern inside the first one and land on the taxiway parallel to runway 36. Got it? Sure glad I had been watching others do it all week.

Just had enough time to get N88BK untied and pulled to the taxiway before seeing the others starting to line up. Pre-flight done, ask for some help holding the tail, and it starts easily after sitting outside in the rain all week. Taxied up the staging area and parked next to marker 14. While waiting an EAA staffer came by and took a picture of the plane and I. Before long the others began starting up to taxi to the end of the runway. The bird demonstrated on the Lakeland trip that it can be hard to start on 100LL. Hoping for the best began working on it early while a nice EAA line man held the tail. Well. this was the time it did its best at being worst. Attempt after attempt failed. When under primed it pops and kicks back. When over primed it just does not fire except for a poof in the exhaust stacks when you turn the Compu-Fire off. Really don't remember how long this went on, or just how embarrassing it was working with this balky plane with all these people staring at me. One by one the other planes taxied away along with my dream to fly by during my first Oshkosh. Disappointment set in deeper as the next group of planes, the Antique Showcase, taxied by. Then the first of the Homebuilt Showcase planes began to take off, now I have really missed it, shucks! You have no idea how much you can hate something you love dearly, that *&^%$ plane.

No hurry now, just needed to get back to the parking area. The EAA line man said they could get a tug over there a little later. Towed back to parking, how humiliating? It had been about 5 minutes since the last start attempt, so I gave it one more flip, of course it to add insult to the injury, it started on the first blade, like nothing was ever wrong in the first place. Just like a child, that knows just when to get cute just before you are ready to back hand them. Ask the line man if I could turn right and taxi back to the parking area. "No you'll have to taxi let to the end of the runway and cross over there".

By now there were about 5 antiques lined up behind the last of the homebuilts still taking off. This including both of the African painted Sikorski flying boats, and a really nice 30s monoplane racer. Pulling up behind the racer another EAA line man walked up with a very puzzled look on his face, and asks, "What are you doing here?" Now I felt like a lost idiot on top of the general depression. Said, "Was supposed to be in front of the antiques with the Homebuilt Showcase, but my plane would not start." "Just need to get back to parking." He backed away and used his walkie talkie for a few seconds. The two flying boats, the racer, and every other plane between me and the last homebuilt ala turned off the taxi way left and right onto the grass. Then the line man waved me through. Like God parting the Red Sea there was a miraculous clear path to the front. There were some funny looks and some tricky blasts from those old radials as the ancient planes rocked and rolled around in the rough while my tiny plane smoothly rolled by right strait up the middle. Air Force One could not have gotten as good of a priority treatment. Was practically in takeoff position before I could get my jaw back up in its normal position, this was absolutely unbelievable, yet here I am living it.

Once again, the timing could have not been more perfect. Rolled into the right side takeoff position just as homebuilt # 20 rolled. The flag man walked up with a puzzled look, getting a lot of these today. Told him I was supposed to be number 14, but would have no trouble flying slow enough to keep space behind plane # 20. He backed away and waved me off. There was about a 5 mph left rear tailwind, so I left it stuck on till about 60. Climbed to 200' pulled the power way back and flew about 70 indicated. Flew outside the planned pattern and extended the downwind leg a little to keep the following distance in check. Besides, flying slower made the experience last longer. They read my paragraph even though the order was changed; these EAA people are really up on things. Almost forgot to take out the camera and hurriedly took the picture of show center that is posted on AOL. My 20 seconds of fame over show center at Oshkosh. A few seconds that will last a lifetime in memory.

Thank, Bruce King

100% + 198hrs